Life Goes On
by potterfan36041
Summary: Katie Oliver moves in with her brother after a tragic accident kills their family. She, accidentally, discovers a love from her brothers past, but will other parts of his past show themselves as well?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own Katie Oliver.

**Prologue**

A young, brunette walks down the un-beaten path between her life then and now. She never thought that it would change so much over the last few months, but her life is different from most that are her age. Not many people have ever had to deal with the things that have happened to her.

A tragic accident sent her to this point in her life and she has no clue what lies ahead of her. No one would think of this sort of life becoming normal, especially considering her already odd life. She only knows that she is with her only remaining relative, who happens to hold a deep secret, which will affect her life, forever. She, however, knows nothing of this secret or nothing of his other past.

_Katie's POV_

I never thought that I would come to live in a home like this, not after the life I led for the first thirteen years of my life. It seemed impossible to live in a home where I have parents that love me and a brother that cares about me. My life before I met the Oliver's was a horrible experience for any child, but I was one of the lucky ones in that orphanage. I, eventually, got placed into a foster family that was looking to adopt and they were finally able to do that about a month before they were killed.

That's right, my parents are now dead, from a drunk driver who took our car and flipped it as many times as I think it is possible for a car to flip and it still look remotely like a car at all. Although some would say that it doesn't resemble a car at all, but I will never know. I have never and will never see the car, my brother won't allow it and I don't think that I would like to see it either. It would probably bring back some memories that I can't live with right now.

I survived the crash that my parents were killed in, with only a few scratches and a slight concussion, which cleared up over the summer. My parents were killed instantly from the impact of our car into the bank of the ravine. I wish that it would have been me that died, they didn't deserve to die as they did. They were such good people and I owe so much of the life that I now enjoy to them.

I said that I had a brother earlier, well my brother is a little bit older than me. Actually, he is about ten years older than I am, but you wouldn't know that if you saw the way he acts sometimes. He's really crazy and always has the energy to do things, even after a long day at work.

Work for him consists of several hours at school, followed by a couple of hours at the dojo he recently opened. He has always loved karate, but he never had a reason to open a dojo of his own, but it seems that lots of things have changed with him since our parents death. You see, I live with him now, in his peaceful little home in Reefside and he is all of the family that I have left. I don't know what I would do without him and I'm not sure that I want to find out the answer to that question.

My brother's name is Tommy Oliver and although he is happy, I know that there is more happiness for him out there somewhere. His friends all say that he was truly happy at one time, but that time was so many years ago and I don't even know what it was that made him happy back then. It seems to be the biggest secret of his lifetime. No matter how many times I ask him, I never get a straight answer.

His friends won't tell me anything about what made him happy and it seems to me that they don't want to upset him and that is why they don't say anything about it. It just seems odd that they don't want him to find that happiness again, but there will be one day that I will get it out of them. I promise that much. I know he deserves the happiness that he has given so many people, if only I can find where it is came from back then.

I am determined to find out what once made him happy and I will do whatever it takes to get him that happiness again. He did not have to take me in after our parents died, but he did and he is trying his best right now to be a brother and a parent to me. I just want him to be able to find happiness in his life, even if it is not easy for him to find the happiness without a lot of help from the people that love him.

AN: I know that this is a very short chapter, but I just wanted to set everything up for you before I begin the meat of this story, which is bound to get complicated somewhere along the line.


	2. School

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, and Angelina Gomez.

**icstars:** Thanks, but I make no guarantees that the chapters will be longer as they go on.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**speakofthetruth:** Thank you, but not all chapters will come from Katie, although she will be in every chapter, from what I have planned.

Now, on with the story!

_Tommy's POV_

This is my first day back to school, after my parents were killed this summer. My little sister is now living with me and going to school here, which works out good for the both of us. She is about as torn up about this as I am, but I have to admit that she seems to be getting over it slowly but surely, she is getting over it. Although I still catch her crying in the corner by herself sometimes that seems to be how she copes with the pain and I know it's best to let her do what she can. We both have to deal with this in our own way and her way seems to be better than mine for the most part.

She feels guilty for surviving the crash when my parents didn't, but I don't know if I would have been able to deal with losing all three of them at once. I have lost so much in my life already and I don't know how much more I can have taken away from me. People don't understand it when I say that too them, but my friends know the truth about my life, before now and they understand it perfectly. They understand what else I have lost. They understand who else I have lost and can never have back and they understand exactly how much it hurts me.

I recently decided to try to teach karate again. It surprised a lot of my friends when I told them about my decision to go back into the trade, especially after taking such a long break from doing any of it. I have always done it for my own pleasure, but I usually only teach when I am a ranger. It seems to be a weird habit that I developed a couple of years ago. They had all thought after my last stint as a ranger that I wouldn't want to do karate anymore, but I see a need for it, for me more than anyone else.

It helps me heal and I also know that it will help me in the long run in many more ways, karate has always been something that I can turn to when things turn bad and things have not been great for me over the last year. My last rangers have gone onto college, although Conner is going to a community college a few towns away and playing soccer for them, so I do see him a good bit. That does keep me sane, although I do think that I am not the reason that he is hanging around.

He still drops in to see me, just me, every once in awhile, but I can tell that it pains him to not talk about everything that happened during the last battle. The day we were going to meet up and talk about it, my parents were in their accident and I haven't found a good opportunity since then to try to explain it to them. I don't feel right just explaining it to one of them. They all deserve to here it at the same time.

Conner has questions about why some things affected me the way that they did and I don't blame him for that, it was something that I never intended to tell them about. None of them knew about that part of my past, that I've tried to keep a secret as much as possible.

There are reasons no one in my new life knows about her. I never thought that it would really come up again, considering the fact that none of the things I would be dealing with would know about her. But I couldn't bear to talk to them about it, especially after what they saw from Zeltrax. I wish I could go back and change what I did back then, but time doesn't work that way, time is cruel to all of us, some times and it is completely unforgiving. I'm hoping to be able to tell all of them about it one day, without shedding a single tear, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I still love her and I'm not sure, what I would say to them to try to explain it all without having to tell them much more than I want to about my life before I moved to Reefside.

"Good morning, Dr. Oliver. It's good to see you," Andrea Pridgen said as he signed in his name on the time sheet and looked up at her with a distant smile on his face. He still had the hollow look in his eyes that she had seen this summer at his parents funeral and it killed her to see it there. He didn't deserve to suffer the way that he was right now, but everyone insisted that he would be all right. It just took him a little bit longer to heal than it did most other people. Little did she know, that the real reason had next to nothing to do with his parents and everything to do with a regret from years ago.

Andrea was a pretty woman and she had a heart of gold, a heart that had honestly never meant to hurt someone intentionally. She was a little bit on the short side and had long strawberry blonde hair and blazing, blue eyes. She was the same age as Tommy and had started working at the school the year before, after finishing up all of her college, although it did take her a little bit longer than most. She had been side tracked by her own family problems and she could understand what Tommy was going through right now. It had taken her a long time to learn to deal with it, but she knew that with time Tommy would heal. She just didn't know if she would be able to wait as long as he needed her to.

"Good morning, Andie," Tommy said with a slightly brighter smile as she looked up at him with a smile on her lips, but concern still lingering in her eyes. She was worried about him and he did not blame her in the least bit for that, he expected it from her. She honestly did care about him and had been taking care to not upset him lately, as she knew he was still teetering on the edge of sanity most days. He, however, had this horrible feeling that he was going to hurt her in the end. Not because she was not a nice woman, but because of the things that he could not push from his brain any longer. He had been able to put her out of his mind for the longest time, but this last tragedy had brought her back to the front of his mind. He knew that he couldn't live with himself until he had at least tried to make things right by her. "Is there anything I need to know about?"

"No, Tommy, you actually are here in time for announcements today. Have a good day, I'll see you this afternoon," Andie said as he bent over the desk and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

The two of them started dating a few months before his parents died and a couple of months after the rangers had destroyed Mesogogg and were now able to live peacefully. She still knew nothing of him being a ranger, but it was not something that he shared with many people, even those that were close to him. She had been with him when he found out about his parents' crash and had even gone with him to the hospital to find out that they had died from their injuries.

She had thought that she had seen him upset before then, but the way that he broke down killed her. She hated seeing him like that and over the last few months he had gotten better, but he still seemed distant towards her. He seemed like he didn't want to be close to anyone anymore or he would get hurt again, although she kept on telling him it was not his fault. That just didn't seem to be enough. There seemed to be something else there that only he knew about and he was not letting anyone else help him with that.

She didn't know what caused him to be so distant with her, as the closeness had never been an issue before the wreck. They had been friends for months before Tommy finally asked her out and that had surprised her, as she had finally given up on any hope that he would ever do that. She had liked him since the moment that they had met, but he had never shown too much interest and then suddenly one day he did. They had been fine before his parents died, but she knew that it had been such a shock to him and it was bound to take him some time to heal from all of it.

She had talked with some of his friends, who admitted that his actions were odd, but that he'd be back to normal eventually. Most of those friends, however, thought that it might be something else, something that Andie would not want to hear about and they were certain that she didn't know about it. If they were right, Tommy was thinking about something that he had avoided for years and it was the one thing in his life that he regretted more than anything else. When he let her give him that half-ass excuse and he actually accepted it without a fight.

_Katie's POV_

First day at a new school, that is always a nerve racking experience, although I have been through it several times before, it never gets any easier to deal with. You get all of these funny stares when you walk in the classroom and the teachers automatically ask who you are and where you came from and what your parents names are, all that jazz. It really can become annoying after your second or third class, but I know that it'll all work out, eventually. It has to this time, I don't have the option of going anywhere else but here and my brother will not give up on me the way that some foster families did in the past.

At least this time though, I know one person and I hope that my brother will be able to survive his first day back in the swing of school work. He hasn't been himself over the last few days and I really don't know what to do to help him get back to himself. Andie has been trying to help him so much, but he seems to be distancing himself from her, it is as if he has suddenly remembered something and he doesn't want to hurt Andie. She is so nice and I wish that Tommy would marry her, maybe he'd finally be happy if he does that. He'd be able to have a family of his own, with a woman that I am sure he loves.

"Katie!" Angelina Gomez yelled from across the parking lot as she saw Katie pull up in a Honda Accord. It was her parents other car and since Tommy was a teacher, it was not exactly easy for him to pick up another car payment on such short notice, so she got the other car instead of the new one that her parents had promised. To be honest, she didn't really care to drive anymore and would gladly walk somewhere before she would drive there now. She did that as often as she could, leaving her car at Hayley's many times in favor of a ten minute jog to the dojo. "It's so good to see you. How have you been? You weren't at the last few classes, I was starting to worry about you."

"I'm fine Angelina. I just had some stuff I had to do to get ready to go to school and Tommy was fine with me missing a few classes," Katie said, as she casually pulled her long, brown hair into a low ponytail and continued towards the main building of the school. Her brother had told her that her first class would be in that building and that Angelina would be able to show her where the rest of her classes were situated.

"It's so funny to hear someone call Dr. O by his first name. It just doesn't seem natural to call him that or anything besides Dr. O," Angelina said, as she had been one of the few people that had accepted Katie when she first moved in with her brother.

Angelina came from a Latin family and carried all of the traits, even down to her attitude, although it rarely showed itself, except when she was mad about something. She had been interested in learning karate, since she had seen it on a television a few years ago and it was just great to her that Dr. O taught the class. He had been voted the sexiest teacher in the world a few years back and any girl would have been crazy to not to take classes from him, but after the initial shock of seeing him without his shirt on, they actually found out he was a very good teacher, of a subject besides science.

"Well, I think he'd kill me if I were to call him Dr. O. He wants us to act like siblings, so we're on a first name basis. He even insists that I call him Tommy in class, he told me there was no point in me ever calling him Dr. O. It would actually offend him if I did that and I don't want to piss my brother off. He's done way too much for me," Katie said with a smile as she passed the front desk and waved to Andie as she passed.

Katie didn't notice the sideways glances she was getting as she walked down the hall from the students that had been there last year. She was used to the odd looks on the first day at a new school and she tried to ignore it for the most part. Most of the people were shocked at how much Katie and Dr. O favored, no they weren't blood siblings, but they could have fooled anyone. She seemed to be a shorter version of him and had some of the same features, although she did have bright green eyes, instead of his chocolate brown. They had heard that Dr. O was bringing his sister to school this year, but many of them had not expected for her to knock their socks off as well, which she did manage to do in her own, subtle way.

"The two of them still dating?" Angelina asked, as she had not seen Andie at any of the karate lessons lately. She had to admit that Andie had never exactly seemed to be the type Dr. O would fall for, but odder things had happened around here and she had just learned to go with the flow.

"Yeah, they are. She's really happy about it and my brother was, at least until our parents died. They were even starting to talk about kids and marriage and things like that before they passed on, but I haven't heard them talk about anything like that since then. I just don't know what has gotten into my brother. I don't see how he suddenly changed how he felt," Katie said, as she had overheard Andie talking with Jason one night.

Tommy had collapsed into bed after a particularly rough day, in which they had closed on the sale of their parents house and she was going to get herself a glass of water, but she heard them talking and stopped on the staircase, just out of sight. Jason just said to give him sometime, he'd come around, but it seemed like Jason knew something that neither Andie nor she knew about. Was there another woman that could make her brother decide that he couldn't marry Andie anymore? She had always wondered about her brother's former girlfriends and she had even met Katherine once or twice, but there seemed to be someone else there that they were hiding. It seemed, to her, that the girl had hurt him, although he had tried to move on, she was still there in the back of his mind.

"He's trying to heal, Katie. It's only normal that he doesn't want to talk about marriage. It'll come back up, eventually. We just all have to be patient," Angelina said, as they arrived at their first period class which happened to be the dreaded English class and thus their first day of school began, as the year was starting anew.

AN: I know, it's another short chapter, but this story has a lot of things building to a big event and I hope that you will enjoy this story as it progresses.


	3. Overhearing

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, and Angelina Gomez.

**Ghostwriter:** Thank you and I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well.

**KimTomPW:** Anything is possible.

_Telephone Conversations_

"Tommy! Telephone!" Katie yelled, as she had heard the voice on the other end of the line and known that it was not for her without the person even bothering to ask for Tommy.

She had not had any guys call her since she had moved in with Tommy and she imagined it would stay that way for awhile. People, generally, choose to avoid her once they found out Tommy was her brother, but it had not been really bad. She wanted space right now and the image of him beating the living crap out of them was a grateful one right now.

Her first day at school had been fairly good, although she had gotten some odd looks when she was introduced as Dr. O's little sister to some of the staff members that had not met her over the summer. She got the distinct feeling that many of the boys felt that that meant she was off limits to any of them and she couldn't help but agree with that feeling. Her brother was a little bit overprotective and she could understand why he had said to watch out for all of the boys that would try to talk to her.

"I got it Katie," Tommy said, as he picked up the receiver in his room and then prepared for it to be one of any number of people that might be calling to ask about him. All of his friends checked in regularly, since his parents had died, but they didn't matter as much as they used to. The one person that he actually wanted to call him was never going to do that, but he could always hope that one day she would do that again. That he would be able to hear her voice again. If that ever happened, he would probably faint from happiness, but he knew that it wasn't likely to happen at all, not after this many years. "Hey."

"Nice, Tommy. I thought you would know how to introduce yourself by now," Jason said, as he heard Tommy chuckle and could imagine exactly what Tommy was doing at the moment. He was fairly sure that his best friend was stretched out on his bed, grading papers, and preparing himself to go to sleep within the next few minutes. He, however, was not going to let him off the hook that easy tonight. He had seen the way that Tommy had been looking lately and he knew what was on his mind. He just hoped that maybe Tommy would finally do something about the situation. It had been long enough that the two of them should be able to at least talk to each other, although he had never been very receptive of the idea, but recent events might have changed his mind. Especially if he had been thinking about what Jason thought he was thinking about. "How you been?"

"I've been better, but school was good today. I got the normal 'I'm so sorry's' but it could have been worse. I could have had to deal with Mesogogg or some other damn creature and I'm just not in the mood to have to deal with those things anymore. I hope it will be a long break for me or that that was really it. I'm never going to be a ranger again," Tommy said, as he marked a paper, which was littered with incorrect answers to his initial knowledge test. Then took off his glasses, as he did not want to continue doing this tonight, it just took too much out of him.

He just wanted to be able to go off into dreamland and stay there for a long vacation. His dreams always seemed to be better than his real life was, in most cases and there were many times that he wondered why he could never do anything that those dreams suggested him doing. It seemed to him that he should have the guts to do what needed to be done, but he could never find those when they were needed.

"Tommy, I have to know something and I wouldn't ask if I didn't think that someone wouldn't wind up getting hurt. I promise I won't tell Andie about this, but have you been thinking about Kim lately?" Jason asked, as Katie's eyes widened, but she held in the gasp that she wanted to let escape her lips.

She had never heard of a girl named Kim, although she could vaguely remember a time that their mother almost let someone's name slip and her brother almost went crazy. She didn't really think that it was anyone too important, but whoever she was talking about must have meant a lot to Tommy and it was obvious that he wanted to keep that person a secret, although it didn't make sense that Tommy would keep someone she was likely to never meet a complete secret.

But who was Kim and why would her brother be thinking about the girl now? It didn't make any sense that their parents death would make him think of a girl, unless there was something that was unresolved. She, however, had only known her brother to have had one girlfriend in the past, although many seemed to know that there was someone else that she had never met, that meant much more to him.

"Jason, I thought I was over her, but damn it, I'm not. I don't want to hurt Andie, I really don't. She's been so great for me, and I was even thinking about marrying her, until Mom and Dad died. Jason, I'd just be settling for someone that is not the best for me and I can't do that to the both of us. It's not the same with her, no matter how much I try to not compare every woman I date to Kim, I always do. Jason, I can't go on living like this. It's only half a life and after the hell I've been through, I think it's time I have a whole one, even if it is alone," Tommy said, as Jason could have sworn that he heard a broken sob being let out by Tommy, as he still got emotional when he talked about Kim.

It had hurt all of them when the two of them broke up, but he'd be damned if he didn't try to do something to get the two of them to be friends again. If they could be friends, then maybe they would somehow be able to solve what had happened, although it seemed that that was not a likely possibility, but he had known weirder things to happen between his friends. Rangers were known for making odd things seem normal, so the idea of talking to her after a decade seemed plausible.

"Tommy, what if the two of you could resolve all of this? What if you could get together and find out what made her write that letter ten years ago? Do you think that you could move on then?" Jason asked, as he wanted to try to figure out how to make Tommy happy.

He deserved to be able to get married to someone without thinking about Kim anymore and he was willing to do anything that he could to get that to happen. He knew he might be pushing his luck to get Kim to come back out to California, but he was willing to try anything at this point. If he could get her to say okay, he would have her the plane tickets the next morning, somehow, even if it meant that he would have to get the money from some of the other rangers. They were all willing to pitch in so that they would be able to see the two of them be friends again.

"I don't want to move on, Jason. I realized that after they died; she was too much of a part of me for me to just move on. Jason, I love her and I don't know if I will ever be able to move on in my life without her. I will never be as happy in another relationship as I was with her. I think I can know that much after ten years of trying to move on and it just not working out for me," Tommy said as he heard Jason sigh and then he could imagine him shaking his head at what Tommy was saying.

It was crazy that he still felt hope after all of these years, but he just could not push her out of his heart, no matter how hard he tried. He had tried moving on so many times, but it never worked, no matter who it was, they were not her and they could never be her. He thought someone else would capture a place in his heart, but every time something would happen that reminded him of her and that was the end, none could compare in his mind.

"Tommy, it's been so long. What if things have changed? What if she's married?" Jason asked, although he knew for a fact she was not, but she had been dating someone for quite awhile now and it did seem serious.

Jason, however, got the feeling that she did not feel as if she could marry the man, for one reason or another. He had never been able to get the reason out of her, but when he asked about Tommy, she shut up, which was a sure sign that he had something to do with it. She never wanted to admit that she had screwed up when she broke up with Tommy, but it seemed to have come into focus as the years went by and it became harder to forget what had been done.

"Jason, you know good and damn well she's not married. If she was, you would have told me something like that so I could go to the wedding and raise hell, have my one final stand for her love. That's the least that I could get out of this," Tommy said, as he picked up a picture out of his side table and looked at the two of them together, with the rest of the rangers. Anyone could tell that they had something special, even as teenagers and it hurt him to look at it, but when he thought of her, it did help to see her happy. He didn't want to remember her as a sad person and she had been sad in the last few days before she left to go to Miami. He didn't want her to go and neither did she, but it was her dream and that was important, but that damn dream tore them apart. "And what, exactly would you do to resolve this? It's not like she's just going to come out here because you ask her to. Look at what happened the last time she did that, she almost died and I don't know if I could have that on my conscience again."

"Tommy, there is no Lord Zedd, or Divatox, or Mesogogg threatening to kill you right now! And even if there was, the thing wouldn't know about her. She's lost in your past now and they wouldn't bother to dig her up. What would be the harm in trying to get her out here? You said it yourself that you won't move on, why don't you at least try to talk to her? It wouldn't hurt you to do that; it actually might help you straighten out all this shit," Jason said, as he knew that he had finally managed to get Kim to the point that she would come out here to see Aisha and the others and maybe he would be able to slip Tommy in there too, somehow.

He thought that she was secretly hoping to see Tommy again, but he could not reveal that to Tommy, because he knew that there might not be much more hope than that. She hadn't talked about Tommy's love life in months and that showed that Kim was losing all hope as well. If they didn't do something soon, they were going to truly lose each other, in everyway possible.

"Jason, I can't stand to hear her tell me that she doesn't love me anymore. Who knows, maybe if she comes back out here another monster will come out to attack us again and then we'll be back where we were so many years ago. I've been through enough with her, just let me go on like this and I'll die alone," Tommy said, as Katie sat on the other end of the phone, completely befuddled.

She could not understand why they were talking about Lord Zedd and the other people as if they were friends and she had no clue what this Kim girl had done to her brother. But she did know one thing, if she could find where Kim lived and maybe contact her, she'd be able to make her brother happy. She was just going to need a lot of help in doing all of it without her brother finding out about it. He just seemed to have this eerie sixth sense when she would be up to no good and she hoped that he had turned it off for a little while.

"I know you don't want to do that, Tommy. No matter what you say to anyone. One of these days, you are going to finally decide to marry someone and you know, I'd like you to be able to do it with a clear conscience," Jason said, as he looked up at the clock and realized he was going to have to speed this conversation up in order to be able to make another phone call. He had been working both sides of the coin for years with Kim and Tommy, but he knew he was close to getting the two of them to at least talk. He just had to work a little bit harder and maybe have a little bit of luck go his way, for once.

"Jason, I'm not getting married unless it is her and I know that I'm going to hurt Andie, that's why I'm breaking up with her. I can't keep on putting her through this, she deserves to be able to find someone that really can love only her and that's not me. I can't open myself up like that to her," Tommy said as Katie's mouth dropped open and she was sure she could hear the same thing from Jason as well. How could her brother change so much so quickly? The only explanation that she could find was that this Kim girl must have meant the world to her brother.

"You're what! Tommy, I had better get off the phone now or I'm going to cuss you out. Just promise me you'll think about it before you break up with her. I don't want you to regret what you do," Jason said as he hung up the phone and both Tommy and Katie heard the dial tone. Tommy had nothing else he needed to think about, he had heard all of this from Jason before.

Katie, however, was scared to death to have heard all of this and she could only hope that she would find someone who could explain all of it to her. She might have to ask Jason, but she was only willing to do that if he promised he wouldn't get mad. This seemed to be what was holding Tommy back and she just hoped it could be fixed, somehow. It just had to be fixed.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" Aisha asked, as she and Jason had been working on this for months. They hoped to get the two of them to settle their differences and then move on, but that seemed to be out of the question for Tommy. He couldn't move on to someone else and they were beginning to wonder if it was the same for Kim.

"Ish, why can't we just go back in time and change everything that happened? It would be so much easier on all of us," Jason said, as Aisha shook her head.

They had all been through this conversation about the two of them and it always came back to the same thing. There was a reason that they had broken up and maybe there was still a day when they would get back together and be the happy couple that they were. That day, however, seemed to be less of a possibility as time went on and they were resorting to last ditch efforts now. Neither of them were happy and they at least deserved a fair shot at achieving the happiness that they wanted.

"I know it would, but there is a reason for all of it. Maybe they'll be able to straighten it out this time," Aisha said, as she passed Jason the phone and he then dialed Kim's number, knowing that this was only the beginning of a very long night for the two of them.

AN: I know that I'm leaving out Kim and Jason's phone conversation, but bits and pieces of it will be revealed as the story goes along, right now I just want to focus on everything that is going on around Tommy's life.


	4. Night Time Visits

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, and Angelina Gomez.

"Out for the weekend! This is great, Katie. No work, no seeing people that tick you off for a whole two days! Hey, why don't you come to Hayley's with me and then we'll head to the dojo? I don't think Dr. O would mind you going there. It is Hayley's after all," Angelina said, as she walked across the parking lot to her car, enjoying the freedom of a weekend with nothing to do. The first week of school always did nasty things to her.

She had always suspected that Dr. O had a thing for Hayley just because of how much time he spent at the Cyber Cafe. She always saw him there on the weekends and there were never any other adults around the cafe. Not that Dr. O exactly was seen interacting with adults, now that she thought about it. Any ways they always hung out and it seemed like they could talk to each other about anything that came up, although she didn't know that there were quite a few things that Tommy had never told Hayley about. He just couldn't tell her some things about his past.

"That's a good idea," Katie said, as she finally was getting the ball rolling on her little plan.

She had been trying to find an excuse to go there so she could use the computer to try to look up Kim, but she had a feeling it was going to be hard to locate her. She didn't know the girl's last name and she doubted that she was famous, but she could try it and maybe she would make some headway. Plus her brother was going to leave town after their karate class, although no one knew about it and she understood why he wanted it to be kept that way. The last thing he needed was for a bunch of teenagers to crash at his house all weekend. She was going to use that time to try to dig up some more on the mystery girl and maybe she would find what she was looking for, or at least something to help her really get started in her search.

"What's that look for?" Angelina asked, as she could tell that Katie had this idea ticking around in her brain that she had been dying to tell someone. Why she hadn't told her? She didn't know, but she figured that it was pretty complicated if she hadn't told anyone about it. Katie liked to have a plan before she did things that might get her in trouble or even worse, as in this particular situation.

"I'm working on something to make my brother happy, but it's not going to be easy. I don't know enough to be able to find this easily. Hell, all I have is a first name to go on," Katie said, as she went to get into her car and saw a card placed under the wind shield wiper. She was surprised to find something there that did not have Tommy's handwriting on the front of it, but she was sure that it was nothing that would mean too much to her.

"Aw wee, how sweet. Looks like someone has a crush on you," Angelina said, as Katie picked up the card and stashed it in her purse. She'd look at it this weekend while she was trying to find stuff on that Kim girl. She really didn't have the time for it right now, as she was trying to focus on something else.

"Not for long. They must not know my brother too well," Katie said with a laugh, as she climbed in her car and headed towards Hayley's hoping to be able to find something on the Internet that would at least point her in the right direction of where to go next.

--------------------------

"Kim. Since when did you like girls?" Angelina asked, as she saw what Katie had typed into the search engine.

"It's not for me. It has to do with my brother. This is the first name of the girl I'm looking for, but I'm not making much progress," Katie said, as she scrolled down the list seeing everything from Kim Andrews to Kim Zawinski, but none of them seemed to be who she was looking for. She knew that the girl must have lived in either Angel Grove or Reefside and none of them said anything about either town, so she was hoping to keep looking and be able to find a small list.

"Whoa, he likes a girl named Kim? I thought he was dating Andie from the office at school," Angelina said, as Katie sighed and turned to tell her the story of the phone conversation.

She decided it would be best to leave out the part about Lord Zedd and Mesogogg. She still hadn't figured out that part and she was not going to even attempt to try to explain why those names had come up. Other than that, she told her everything that she knew and exactly what she thought about most of it.

"It just seems weird to me that Jason was able to tell what it is with him. I don't know what this girl did to him, but it seems that he has forgiven her and all he wants to do is give it a second chance. I just want to try to help him get a chance to have that. He deserves that much, especially after taking me and all my emotional baggage in," Katie said, as Angelina nodded her head.

Although she had to admit that she did not want to see Dr. O get married anytime soon, she knew that he deserved to be happy. It didn't seem like he had had an easy life and for once he deserved something better than second place, which was what he seemed to wind up with the majority of the time.

"But why would he wait so long to do something? Why didn't he do anything then?" Angelina asked, as it did seem that the event had occurred years before and it seemed like Dr. O would have gotten over all of it by now or done something about it back then. He was not exactly a passive person from what they could see. "It just doesn't seem like Dr. O to sit back and wait."

"Well, that's the million dollar question, but I'm trying my best to find out all I can about their relationship. We better get going, it's a ten minute walk to the dojo," Katie said, as Angelina gave her an odd look and then decided to not argue about taking a car instead. Katie didn't like cars too much and it was going to take awhile for her to really be comfortable again, so she decided tonight was not the best night to press the issue.

"It wouldn't be wise to mention that to your brother would it?" Angelina asked as she and Katie began jogging towards the dojo, as Katie still had to change into her karate attire once she got to the dojo and she knew that she had no excuses in her brothers mind, although he was late all the time.

"No, he doesn't know I listened in and I want to keep it that way as long as I can. I'm afraid he would kill me if he found out about all of it. He guards his personal life with a passion, which kinda makes me wonder what might else be going on with him that I don't know about," Katie said, as they continued to run towards the dojo and she saw out of the corner of her eye a car that looked to be following them, but shrugged it off. Reefside was a small town and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was probably nothing at all.

"I've noticed that about your lovely brother. Your clothes are at the dojo, right?" Angelina asked, as she knew that Katie almost always left a pair in the dojo.

"Yeah, they should be back in the locker room. Hey did you get to talk to that guy this week?" Katie asked. She had never been really great with names and she could only hope that Angelina would be able to figure out who she was talking about.

"No, I don't think I want to either. I found out some stuff about him and he seems to be really shady. I don't need anything like that right now," Angelina said, as they rounded the corner to the dojo and then slowed down as they walked towards the door.

"Well, it's probably better that you don't talk with him then. I bet he is going to work our asses off tonight. He hasn't had the best week in the world," Katie said, as Angelina shook her head in agreement, while she headed towards the group of guys standing on the mats.

Katie sprinted towards the locker room and she was surprised when she saw her locker had been gone through, but her clothes were still there, so she didn't really care about it. Tommy had probably just gone through there looking to see if she had something of his stashed inside, as she sometimes borrowed his old karate clothes when she had left hers at home. She quickly put on the black karate pants and pink, spandex, racerback top and headed towards the mats.

"You were almost late," Tommy said pointing towards the clock, as Katie gathered her hair a little bit higher on her head and then took a good look at her brother. He was one to talk about being late, but this was his class and she did not choose now to argue with him about this subject. She could argue with him about his tardiness later, as he was bound to be late sometime soon to something important.

"Almost, but I'm not. That's what counts," Katie said with a smile, as she joined the others on the floor to stretch out her legs and back a little bit before she started working out.

They worked as hard as they possibly could over the next hour and at the end of it, Katie went back into the locker room, grabbed her keys, and then put on a sweatshirt to keep the chill from bothering her when she went outside.

"You want me to drive you to Hayley's?" Tommy asked, as he knew he had plenty of time to take her to Hayley's and say good-bye before he went to Jason's to talk about some issues that were going on inside of his head.

He could only hope Jason would give him some insight and he had promised there would be no surprises and that was what he honestly hoped would happen. He knew that Jason probably had not meant that, but he was hopeful that he would at least keep the promise this time. He didn't know if he could take a ranger reunion tonight. There was just far too much happening with him right now.

"Yeah, if you don't mind, Tommy. It's kinda creepy out here once things have calmed down for the night," Katie said, as he put his arm around her after he locked up the dojo and headed towards his old jeep. He wanted to make her comfortable and he also felt that he needed to protect her, no matter what he always had that feeling that he had to protect those that he loved. Being a ranger had taught him that and so much more, although he felt as if he had let some of his loved ones down in the past. "Tommy, I know Mom and Dad dying hurt you, but what else is going on? You've changed the way you act towards Andie and I don't think that is because of Mom and Dad."

"Katie, I don't know if you would understand it. It happened a long time ago and it's not something I like to talk about, to anyone," Tommy said, as he gave Katie a suspicious look while he said those words.

This was not something that would come up out of the blue for any reason with her, but she had always been a little bit insightful and he hoped that was all that it was. If she had talked to Jason or anyone else, she might know exactly what was going on, although he did not wish for anyone else to find out about them. She was his sister, but she didn't need to know about this because he couldn't take her joining in on the bandwagon of getting him and Kim back together as well.

"Alright, but don't think that you are going to get away with it that easily. I will find out what is going on with you. I always do, Tommy," Katie said with a smile as she looked over at him.

She gave him a look that told him she was going to find out what it was, even if that meant she had to investigate everything this weekend. He knew she would try to do something, but he only hoped she would not go digging around the house and accidentally find the basement. That was all that he needed for her to find right now, because she would not only find out about Kim, but about him being a ranger as well. He didn't think that she needed those two words coming together all at once.

"Fine, missy," Tommy said with a smile, as he let her out of his jeep and she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek before climbing in to her car. "I'll see you at home."

"Okay, Tommy. I'll see you there," Katie said with a smile, as he backed out first and then she turned to follow him. They were going to go their separate ways later, but her brother always insisted that no one know that she would be at home alone. She didn't understand it, but she didn't question his wisdom on things like this. She drove home without too many worries and walked into the house, hoping to enjoy it all by herself. "Home sweet home."

She went and cooked supper for herself and sat down in the living room to watch television and think about her plan. She had some homework to do, but she had all weekend and she wanted to enjoy tonight without too many worries plaguing her. After she had washed the dishes and was about to head back into the living room, she heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. She knew that it could really be anyone, her brother always had visitors at odd times like this and she would just tell them that he wasn't home, as it was probably Hayley or Andie.

"Hello," Katie said, as she opened the door and Conner stood shocked. He had expected Dr. O to answer the door. He had come home this weekend, but his parents weren't home and he was hoping he could bunk down here until they showed up. He had never thought that Katie might be there by herself and he was not sure that Dr. O would fall for them spending the weekend together, if he wasn't at home. He knew what it was like to be a teenage guy, although it had been a little while since he had been one. "Hey, Conner. What are you doing here?"

"Is Dr. O home?" Conner asked, as he noticed that Katie was already in her pajamas and it looked like she was about to settle down and go to sleep. He really didn't want to trouble her and he also didn't know if he was going to be able to stand talking to her when she was dressed in less clothing than he was used to.

"Sorry, he's not. Can I help you with something?" Katie asked, as she saw the bag he had sitting next to his feet and assumed that he had been coming to see if he could spend the night there.

He did that every few weeks and she had gotten used to him being around, although it had been rather uncomfortable at first. She hadn't known what to think of him, but she did know that he was definitely more interesting than she had first thought he would be.

"I don't think so. He wouldn't want the two of us staying here alone," Conner said, as Katie gave him a look and then pulled him inside and locked the door. She didn't want him to continue standing outside and she just got this odd feeling that he needed to be inside as soon as possible. It was getting dark outside and her brother would probably agree to it, as he had seemed to be much more out of it than usual. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, look, just call him and explain the situation. It will probably put him at ease if he knows that you are here. You know he doesn't like me staying here alone," Katie said, as Conner gave her an odd look. He honestly doubted that one, because of what he had told Dr. O earlier this summer, although he did know how he was about his little sister being alone. He never liked leaving for the weekend, but Tommy always seemed to have something to come up that would call him away and Katie could only stay with Hayley so many times before she got tired of it. "Conner, I don't bite."

"I know, but your brother does. I'll call him, though," Conner said as he walked in to the kitchen and picked up the phone. He heard an odd noise sound from the living room and was pretty sure that it was the movie and nothing else, as Katie had not shrieked from surprise. "Hey, Dr. O."

"Conner, what are you doing at my house?" Tommy asked as he drove towards Angel Grove. He had been off in daydream land when he had been brought back to life by the cell phone ringer and he wished to return there as soon as possible.

"Dr. O, I was planning on camping out at my parents, but they're not home and well, I thought you would be, so do you mind if I stay here for the night?" Conner asked, as Katie walked in and propped herself against the doorjamb as she listened to him talk to her brother.

She couldn't help but think that he looked better than he did the last time that she had seen him, but she knew that if her brother agreed, then she would have to be on her p's and q's as well. She couldn't make him regret the choice or she might never see Conner again. It was exactly how Tommy would handle it if something happened and that was not something that she wanted to happen.

"I guess, since you are already there, but no funny business Conner. I know how you feel and I will beat your ass if you do anything to her," Tommy said threateningly as Conner tried to hold back a laugh and managed to do so.

"I promise, Dr. O, you don't have to worry," Conner said as Tommy quickly said good-bye and hung up his cell phone. Conner knew he must have interrupted something that was important to Dr. O and he could only hope that it wasn't that bad.

"He's letting you stay?" Katie asked as Conner nodded his head and she then gave him a quick hug. After she let him go he followed her back into the living room. She knew that Conner had been close to her brother over the last few years and she could only hope that he might be able to help her with her plan. He might know something that she didn't about his past, as he always skirted the subject when it came up. "Conner, I have some questions."

"About what?" Conner asked, as he sat down at one end of the couch and she sat down at the other. He could only imagine what Katie was going to ask him about and there was a lot that he couldn't tell her, although he surely was tempted to reveal everything to her.

"Have you ever heard of a girl named Kim?" Katie asked, as Conner gave her an odd look and then thought about it.

He had heard the name, but he didn't know if he was thinking about the same girl that she was thinking about. When he had heard the name, Dr. O had freaked and then taken Zeltrax and Mesogogg out in about two seconds flat. He was sure that Katie hadn't found out about her in the same fashion he did. She had never been in a ranger fight and although Conner had heard about her in the video, Dr. O wasn't there to go crazy.

"Kim who?" Conner asked, as he looked at the movie on television and then saw something at the bottom of the screen about a gymnastics team, somewhere.

He had never really been interested in gymnastics, but he did look at it for a moment and saw an attractive woman was the front woman for the team. The team seemed to be traveling in Angel Grove this weekend, but he didn't really care to watch anymore about that. He had to get back to the question at hand.

"I don't know her last name, but she has some connection with my brother. I don't know if they used to date or anything like that, but I know that there was something special between them. At least that was how it sounded," Katie said, as Conner sat there and realized who she must be talking about. It could only be one person and she was not someone that Dr. O liked for people to know about.

He only knew about her relationship with Tommy because of what Zeltrax had revealed to them and he knew that Dr. O would not want him to reveal this, but she needed to know the truth or at least all that he knew about the truth of the matter. Otherwise she was likely to piss Tommy off by asking him far too many questions about the situation.

"Come with me, I have a picture to show you," Conner said, as he went up the stairs and headed towards Tommy's room. He knew about the picture that Tommy kept in his side table, as he had had to go up there and get Tommy's car keys one day. He could only hope that he had not chosen to change its hiding place or he was going to look like a complete and total idiot.

"I don't think we should do this," Katie said, as Conner opened the top draw of Tommy's nightstand and handed Katie an old picture of her brother when he was a teenager. It showed six teenagers and she could automatically pick out who five of them were, but the sixth was someone she had never seen. It was someone that she was sure had meant a lot to her brother, but she never was around here, like all of the others were. Could that mystery girl in the picture really be the girl that her brother was willing to break up with Andie for? "Is that her?"

"Yeah. That's Kimberly Hart or whatever her last name is now. I don't know much about her, but from what I've been able to figure out their split up was pretty rough and it left a sour taste in Dr. O's mouth. I don't think that he has ever been able to truly get over it, although he has tried. He dated a girl named Kat and Hayley during college, from what we've been able to get out of him and Andie was the last one that he has tried to get over her with," Conner said. Katie stared at the picture and then remembered that she had seen a woman that looked like this on Tommy's computer before, while glancing through some files. She had never realized who it was, but it seemed to all make sense now. He still loved her and wished that she would be here with him now, but why hadn't he done anything about it? "But where did you find out about her? Dr. O doesn't talk about her a lot."

"I listened into a conversation that Jason and Tommy had the other night. I'm worried about my brother. Tommy's planning on breaking up with Andie, Conner and I want to make sure he has a good reason. I don't want him to throw away that relationship on a whim," Katie said matter-of-factly as Conner stared at her and then noticed that she had this odd look on her face. It was like she had gone into a trance and he had to admit that it did scare him. Her whole demeanor had changed and he could tell that something was picking at her with everything that was inside of her, although she was trying to fight whatever was overtaking her spirit, but was failing at the attempt. "Something is wrong."

"What do you mean?" Conner asked, as he had gotten a nerve-racking feeling about being this close to her and not being able to say what he felt, but it seemed that it was something else with her. It seemed like she was suddenly seeing something that she didn't like, something that might hurt the both of them if they didn't do something about it.

"Conner, where is the basement in this house?" Katie asked, as she started heading towards the stairs as quickly as she could. Something told her to get out of sight as quickly as she could and she intended to do that if it was possible to do so.

"There isn't one," Conner lied as he had been instructed to by Dr. O, as he walked behind her and saw that she was giving him an odd look. She knew about it, somehow, and she was going to make him quit lying.

"Yes there is, now I need you to show it to me," Katie said as she continued towards the stairs, knowing that her feet were taking her in the right direction. She was going to show it to him, even if she was not sure exactly where it was right now, everything just seemed to be coming to her as she continued down the stairs.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's open anymore," Conner said, as Katie gave him an odd look and then grabbed his hand and dragged him into the kitchen. Why she knew this was the room, she didn't know, but she knew that she had to get him to open the door for her. They weren't going to be safe out here much longer and it seemed that she had to protect them, although she did not know why that was suddenly her job.

"Open, it Conner. I know that you know how to and you just have to trust me that we don't have any other choice," Katie said, insistently, as he gave her an odd look and then did what she asked. He had no clue what was going on, but her change in demeanor told him to take whatever she said seriously and do whatever she asked him to do. "Bolt it closed, please."

"Alright," Conner said, as he did what Katie asked, and then headed down into the basement behind her.

He was shocked that she had not screamed out in surprise at the surroundings that they were now in, but she did not seem to notice any of it. It seemed like she had seen it before, although he knew that Dr. O had never told her about the Command Center being in his basement. That was something that she did not need to know about, unless there were more Power Rangers needed and that could very well be a possibility because of how she was acting.

"Is the other exit closed?" Katie asked, as she felt that there was another way in there and she wanted to make sure that there was no way for anyone to get in to them.

"Yeah, cave in a few months ago," Conner said as Katie looked at him and then he heard a great shudder above them, as if the door had been blown off the hinges upstairs. Katie collapsed after hearing the commotion and he caught her and pulled her into the furthest end of the command center, knowing that whatever was going on upstairs was not good. He knew that there were people that were still after Dr. O, but he couldn't imagine them doing something like this. "Katie, come on, wake up sweetie."

It had been calm around here for months and there was no way to really explain whatever was going on. There had been no warning signs or anything to point them to the fact that someone might try to attack Dr. O again, but it was happening.

"Conner, they're here," Katie said as he held her tight to him and heard the continued ran-sacking of the house above them. It sounded to him as if they were looking for something and he could only hope that they would not be able to find whatever it was. If it had anything to do with them being rangers, they were up shit creek, although Dr. O did do a good job of hiding most of it in his basement, which they had just bolted against intruders.

"Katie, do you know who it is?" Conner asked, as he felt that some how she had had some power transmitted to her and she didn't know it. He knew from being a ranger what that was like and he only hoped that she could help them some.

"An enemy. Some one that wants to hurt the Power Rangers," Katie said, as she slowed while she said the last part of that statement. Where had the Power Ranger part come from? She really didn't know too much about them, but it just seemed like it was the right thing to say. If they were trying to hurt the Power Rangers, then they must be after Tommy and he wasn't a ranger. "That's crazy, that can't be right. Why would they be here to look for things about the rangers?"

"Shh, Katie. I'll tell you all about it later. The first thing we need to do though is get out of here. We're going to go to Jason's, okay," Conner said, as he picked her up and carried her over to the teleportation module.

Hayley had taught him how to work the machine and he still remembered it well. He just knew that Dr. O was not going to like it when they landed in Angel Grove without an invitation. As he pressed in the sequence, he held onto Katie tighter and he soon found himself standing in Jason's full living room, with five pairs of eyes on him.

AN: I know, it is a horrible cliff-hanger, but the next chapter will make up for it, I promise.


	5. Showing Up Late

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, and Angelina Gomez.

"What the hell," Zack muttered as the two teenagers now stood in front of them, although Katie seemed to barely be hanging onto consciousness.

Something was draining her and he did not like the look that she had in her eyes, it did not seem to promise them anything good. He had seen that look in one ranger before and he knew that she was not going to be able to hold onto herself much longer without fainting. At least that is what happened to Kimberly when she had that look in her eyes so many years before. They all knew that Tommy was going to hate seeing her like this, it would remind him too much of things of the past.

"Where's Dr. O?" Conner asked, as he watched Katie faint in his arms and he knew that she was not going to wake up for awhile.

He looked around the room and noticed there was a new face in the crowd of friends, but she still seemed to be nice enough and was not shocked by the way that they came in, which was a relief. If he had accidentally done that in front of some people that did not know about them being rangers, then he would have had a lot to explain to them and Dr. O. He knew that Dr. O would kill him if he had done that, but he seemed to be safe or so he hoped.

"He's not here yet, what happened?" Jason asked, as he took Katie out of Conner's arms and put her down on the couch, which Billy and Zack had vacated once she fainted.

"I really don't know. One second she was fine and the next second she's telling me that we need to get to the basement. I didn't even know that she knew about the basement being down there. After we got down there I heard some explosion upstairs, I wasn't risking staying there, so I came up here. What the hell is going on? Why is this happening again?" Conner asked, as he was trembling while the new girl stood up and walked towards the door, having heard someone pull up while Jason was talking to the boy. She knew that she might as well greet Tommy properly.

Tommy got out of his jeep and headed towards the front door. From what he could see there were five people already there and he assumed that meant that Kat was there tonight. Kat and Billy had been dating for awhile and since they didn't get to see each other much, it made sense for them to be together when they were both in town.

"Hello Tommy," a voice from the past said as she opened the door, with tears rolling down her face. This was not how she had imagined finding him when all of this was going to come to an end, but it seemed none of the others were willing to go outside, so that left her to do the dirty work.

He stood there paralyzed by what he heard. He knew that voice, it was the voice that haunted his dreams, as well as he waking hours. He knew that this was not something he had expected to have to deal with right now. If he had known that this was what Jason had been up to, then he would have left it all alone and just stayed in Reefside for the weekend.

"I'm sorry," that voice said as he looked up from his known path towards Jason's door and felt his world shaking around him.

It could not be her voice. It had to be someone else that was talking to him right now because he was not prepared to see her at all. He actually was more likely to see his brother than he was to see her. She was supposed to be across the country and no where near Angel Grove right now, but he had not been paying attention to the news lately and that was what Jason had depended on.

"Kimberly?" Tommy asked as he realized this was not a dream and she was really standing on Jason's doorstep, waiting for him to come inside.

He had imagined this happening so many times before, but the look in her eyes told him that everything they had to discuss could wait until later. There was something going on inside that was more important for them to deal with right now.

"Tommy, we can talk later. Something is wrong and we're going to need your help," Kim said as he looked at her and then looked into Jason's house to see that Conner and Katie were there as well, with Katie looking extremely pale and very unconscious. He had no clue what caused them to come here and he didn't even want to know in what fashion they arrived in, but whatever it was must have called for the use of drastic measures.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked, as Conner looked over at him with a look that told him that it could only mean one thing for them. There seemed to be another monster now, whether it was a person or another Mesogogg was yet to be found out, but he did not like what that meant for them. He really had wanted to enjoy his retirement, for once in his life he wanted to be done with being a ranger. "Shit."

"We didn't even say anything," Aisha said, as Tommy walked over to Katie and settled her to where she was laying down in his lap.

He didn't like the way she looked and Conner looked to be about as concerned as he was about her. Tommy could tell that Conner would have preferred to have been left with Katie, but as she was his sister, it seemed that he wanted to silently ask permission first. It was the least that he could do right now, as he knew that there was only a little while before he was going to wind up saying something to explain why they were here.

"That look was enough for me to know what's happened. I've seen it too many times before. I've given it enough times myself to know exactly what it means," Tommy said as he just shook his head and smiled over at Kimberly, who he had seen in the same condition before.

"Dr. O, someone or something is at your house. I don't know what for, but they burst down the door, from what I was able to hear. And something is wrong with Katie, she's gotten some sort of powers or something like that and they're messing with her," Conner said, as Tommy looked at him not completely understanding how that could happen.

He had tried to keep that part of his life away from her when she moved in. She didn't know about the command center or anything else that was in that house that had to deal with ranger work. It wasn't part of her life or at least it hadn't been part of her life, until tonight.

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, as she stirred in his arms and then went back motionless.

He didn't really want her to wake up right now and he could only hope that when she did wake up she could explain what had happened to her. He didn't like the idea of powers just jumping into her body and he was fairly sure that if that did happen, then there were many more to go around to some other rangers.

"She knew about the basement and she knew there were two entrances. She told me to go down there and I didn't think it was wise to not listen to her. I know you told us never to show it to her, but I didn't know what else to do. She seemed so urgent about it. I promise you, whatever is in your house means business and it probably would have killed us if she hadn't told me to go downstairs. She seems to think that whatever it is knows that you were a ranger or is looking for something about the rangers, but I don't know how she would know that without receiving some sort of powers," Conner said, as Tommy stood up and walked over to the phone.

He had a few telephone calls he had to make before he could really decide about what was going on, but he knew that neither of them was going home tonight. They were going to have to stay in Angel Grove with them, at least if they were here they could be protected from whatever it was that invaded his house. He honestly doubted it would try to attack with so many former rangers in the same area.

"Conner," Katie muttered as she looked up to see him sitting where Tommy had been sitting a few moments before. Things were jumping around in her brain and she really had no clue how she had gotten where she was or why she was even there for that matter.

"Yeah," Conner said, as the other former rangers looked at the two of them and saw a question forming in the girl's eyes.

"Are you alright?" Katie asked, as he smiled down at her and the others couldn't help but laugh, although the timing did seem inappropriate. She didn't know exactly the magnitude of what she had done, but it seemed that her mind was on other things, for at least a little while longer.

"I'm fine, more worried about you really," Conner said, as he heard Tommy ask to talk to Hayley, which was no huge surprise. Hayley was bound to go over to his house sometime this weekend and she needed to know that now there was no use in going over there at all. Katie was in Angel Grove and they were going to have a huge load of work to do when they got back.

"What happened? How did we get here?" Katie asked, as she looked around for the first time and realized that they were no longer at her brother's house.

They seemed to be at Jason's house, from what she could remember and there was no way they could get here that fast. It was a two-hour drive to his house from Reefside and even a little bit longer from Tommy's house, due to the dirt roads.

"Do you remember anything you told me before we left?" Conner asked, as Katie tried to sit up, but found that she was increasingly weak from something and slumped against his side, without the slightest bit of acknowledgement that she was in front of other people. She had no clue as to what could be draining her like this, but she was sure that she was never going to go through another karate practice like the one that she had had today again.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't explain what happened and how we got here. I mean, there is no way we could have gotten here in a matter of seconds. That's crazy, Conner," Katie said, as the seven veteran rangers looked at each other, trying to figure out who was going to explain to her what they had been and what that meant for her. It had never been important for her to know about Tommy's past ranger life, but now she needed to know everything that was going on, for her own safety. "We'd have to be superheroes or something to be able to do that."

"Funny you should say that," Conner said, as Katie looked up at him and then thought about some of the things that she had said earlier tonight.

There were people that wanted to hurt the Power Rangers at her house, but no one knew who the Power Rangers were. No one was supposed to know that. It was part of their identity, part of what made them who they were and she never wanted to know who they were. It ruined the entire mystery that surrounded them so well over the past decade.

"Why is it funny? You're not telling me that you're a Power Ranger, are you?" Katie asked with a smile as Conner began to shake his head and her smile began to fade. She looked around the room to see who else was there and why they were not shrieking in surprise at that declaration from him. It alarmed her that the seven other people in this room seemed relatively calm about the news that she was being told and that could only mean one thing, which she did not want to accept. "You've got to be kidding me. You can't all have been rangers."

"Well, I'm not a ranger anymore, but I was. So was everyone else in this room at one time or another," Conner said, as he nodded his head towards the others and she could not help but give him an odd look. There was no way that her brother could have been a ranger, he would have told her something of that magnitude, but he hadn't told her about Kim and that was just as important to know. So not telling her about him being a ranger made just as much sense. "Katie, it's alright. We know what is at risk."

"You were a ranger?" Katie asked as she sat up and swayed a little bit, but was able to right herself without any assistance from Conner, as she now turned her full attention to her older brother. Everything was clicking in her mind now and she could not believe how she had not been able to figure it out sooner. The signs were everywhere. He was always worried, always extra attentive, and often times went out of his way to change his routine, so he would be hard to follow. It all showed the signs of a past that had been needy of those things as a means of survival and what else would cause them besides being a ranger that would not include getting in trouble with the law? "She…holy shit, no wonder…oh my goodness."

"Did anybody understand what she just said?" Tommy asked, looking at the girls, praying that they would be able to have some insight into how teenage girls talked. He had understood the question and the holy shit part, but other than that, he was clueless about what she had said and what it meant to him or anyone else in the room for that matter.

"I'll take a stab at it, Tommy," Jason said as they all looked over at him. Since when did he understand teenage girls?

He had never been one to translate things for all of them that well, but if he had an idea as to what was going on, then they were going to let him speak. They might laugh at what he had to say, but it would be better than some of the things that Kim and Aisha might come up with to tell them. They didn't want to be scared of all the possibilities that they would discuss.

"Shoot," Tommy said, as he knew that it could be no worse than what anyone else had to say on the situation that was at hand.

"I think your little sister found out about Kim, I don't know how Tommy, but she did. I also think that she was trying to hatch a little plan like the one that we have been working on for the past ten years. Now that she realizes why it hurt so badly, it makes sense why you couldn't…" Jason said, as he knew Tommy would be able to figure out the rest of what he had to say. He also knew that Kim was getting the full gist of what had been going on in Tommy's life over the past ten years.

Tommy gave his sister a quick once over and decided that Jason was right, but now was not a time that he would be able to make amends with Kimberly. He had to take care of Katie and make sure that she was fine, then he would worry about his situation with Kim. It had been like this for years and a few more minutes wouldn't hurt it too much.

"Tommy, don't get mad. I just could tell that you weren't happy and I wanted to try to make it better, but everything I did, didn't seem to work," Katie said, as he sat down next to her and gave her a long hug.

He did not know what he had done to deserve a sister like her, but somewhere, he had pleased somebody at sometime in the past. She was what he had gotten in return for that and he never wanted to have to live without her again, but he might very well have that happen if they didn't get this monster under control.

"It's alright, I'm just glad that you're okay. Why don't the two of you head on upstairs and try to settle down for the night," Tommy said, giving Conner a look over Katie's shoulder to let him know that this was only going to be a one time event. The two of them needed rest and the other rangers needed to be able to talk out the specifics of what they were going to do when they went to his home to investigate tomorrow.

"Come on, let's go," Conner said, as he reached for her hand and helped her off the couch. She was not sure what they had to talk about, but she was sure that she did not want to hear it and she knew that her brother was only doing this now for her protection.

"I'm so tired," Katie said sitting down on the bed in one of Jason's guestrooms. Conner sat down on the far end of the bed and silently thought about this evening and everything that had happened. He had not had an evening this dramatic since before his last battle as a Dino Ranger, which was several months ago. He had thought that he was done with being a ranger, but how wrong he was.

All of the people that he went to college with thought that he just didn't get very excited about things, but that was the furthest from the truth. It happened to be that he was excited, but didn't show it, because he was afraid that someone might be watching that knew about his past that would try to destroy his happiness. He had seen that happen enough with Dr. O to know it was possible that these things could do that to you.

"I don't blame you. This was not an ordinary day," Conner said as Katie turned around and then laid her head down in his lap. She just was not comfortable and she needed some personal contact, as the distance was honestly bothering her. It was as if Conner had shut off every value that allowed him to be nice to her. "Katie, please don't."

"Don't what?" Katie asked sitting up and giving him a clearly confused look. She didn't think that it would bother him for her to be that close, but she might have been completely wrong. "Conner, what is it?"

"Don't make this any harder on me," Conner said as Katie bit her lip and then looked at the closed door. Her brother had always been especially careful when the two of them were around each other and it was now starting to make sense why. He knew what Conner felt and he didn't want him to get put in a compromising position, like the one that he had felt he was in earlier tonight.

"It's pretty rough on me, too," Katie said looking him in the eyes and hoping that he would understand what she was trying to tell him. She couldn't just come out and say it because there was much more at stake now than before and she was not really comfortable saying it.

"Katie…" Conner muttered as she lay her head back on his lap, knowing that he was asking a question with her name and she hoped her actions answered it.

"I know, Conner. Let's try to get some rest," Katie said, as Conner leaned back across the bed and was soon drifting off into dreamland. Tommy walked in a few minutes later and was glad to see both of them were soundly sleeping. He didn't exactly think that this was the best way for them to sleep, but after the evening they had, had, he understood it, even if they wouldn't believe him if he told them that.


	6. No Way

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, and Angelina Gomez.

They were teleported to what the first Power Rangers called the Command Center and later the Power Chamber, although they had no clue where they were headed. The two of them slept soundly, for many hours, barely moving more than a few inches all night. They had been placed in the starkest room in the Command Center, as it was sure to wake them up, once they opened their eyes. It was not exactly a welcoming place to wake up in, but it was the best they could do.

The rangers had not wanted to bring them along, but they knew that if they did not, there was always the chance that something else would come after them. That was not a chance that Tommy wanted to take, especially after the narrow escape earlier that evening. He was going to make sure that they were kept safe, somehow, as he was positive that the attack had been meant for him and he didn't need anyone else to get hurt because of the past he had.

"Where are we?" Katie asked, as she opened her eyes to a bright, gleaming white room, with a single fluorescent bulb in the ceiling. This certainly was not Jason's guestroom that they were now lying in, as she was sure that even Jason would not have a room this sparse in his home. It only left the questions of how they had wound up here and where exactly here was. "Conner."

"Dr. O, I swear, I didn't do anything," Conner said, as he finally braved to open his eyes after several seconds of shielding himself from punches that never came.

When he did, he had to try to focus his eyes and the first thing that came in to focus was Katie, who seemed very amused at his outburst. She, however, decided it was best to not comment on it right away. They had to figure out where in the hell they were and how to get out of here.

"Do you know where we are?" Katie asked, as she tried not to laugh at Conner's outburst when he was first woken up. She knew that he respected her brother, but she had not imagined the pure fear that her brother had instilled in him about being around his little sister. She was going to have to talk to Tommy about that sometime.

"I don't know. It's probably some sort of command center," Conner said, as he finally focused in on the other things that were in the room, which happened to be nothing.

They then heard a crash of something against the steel of the building and it continued to echo through the walls for several seconds afterward. Well, at least they knew that they weren't alone in this odd place, but he could only hope that the other people there were friendly. If there were even people there in the first place.

"Here's the door," Katie said as she had gotten the sense about her to look for one. In this rather sparse room she was sure that it would stick out like a sore thumb and it did.

"Maybe we should stay in here," Conner said, as the lights flicked off and back on which was enough to make him think leaving was the best option. They would probably be safer somewhere else and that was what he had to focus on now. "Let's go, but be careful."

"Yes, sir," Katie said, playfully.

We then started walking through the dark corridors that were interlaced inside of this building. The dim light that came up through the floor gave a most eerie effect, as we could hear some machines grinding back to life. As we did, the muffled sound of voices began to fill the air with unrecognizable remarks and shouts of interest. We continued down the corridor until we were brought to a halt by the conversation that we could hear, right under our feet.

"Yes, Tommy. I may be out of practice, but I still know how to communicate with Aquitar. I didn't exactly forget all the skills needed for this job. It's not something that you really ever lose touch of, considering how many times we've had to find you when you didn't even have ranger powers," Billy's voiced echoed up into the corridor that Conner and Katie were standing in, he certainly sounded just a little bit irritated with Tommy. She couldn't help but wonder exactly what her brother had said to him. "Do you really think that they will know who it was that tried to attack Katie and Conner?"

"They have been watching me for years now. I wouldn't be surprised if they picked up the extra activity and have some sort of lead for us to follow. They've helped me before Billy," Tommy said, trying to blow off Billy's small explosion at the question of his ability to be able to contact other planets.

They were all a little bit stressed because of the new activity and the fact that it seemed to come out of no where. But that seemed to be the common cycle of activity now, although they absolutely hated to think about it that way. They would be on a team, then retire, then have some home attacked, then come back, defeat the evil, then retire again. It was becoming a very vicious cycle for them to handle, but they were the only people that could handle from everything else that they had seen.

"Where's Aquitar?" Katie asked as she looked down at the floor, hoping to find an answer to where the place was, without actually having to go down there. To be honest, she was not even sure if there was a way down there at all. She wouldn't be surprised if her brother had locked her up here, especially if he thought it would keep her safe.

"I don't know!" Conner yelled as the floor fell out from under them and they crashed into the cold steel plated floor.

Katie groaned in pain as she fell flat on her back and tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her, as the others looked on. Conner was somehow able to land on his feet, only because of his previous ranger experiences of falling, but he still was shocked that they had fallen in the first place.

"Sorry, should have warned you about that," Billy said as Katie looked over at him and glared.

Her back would have surely appreciated that warning a few minutes earlier, but she could not really be mad at them. They had bigger problems to worry about than them being a little bit sore from a fall, although as a former ranger they knew that even tiny injuries could screw them up.

"Where are we?" Conner asked, as he reached over and pulled Katie out of the way. He really didn't want for her to get in the way or she might get yelled at and he didn't think that she needed that after the night that they had had.

"This is our Command Center," Tommy said, simply as Katie went from a look of utter outrage to complete and total confusion in a matter of seconds. Why would they be brought here and what was a Command Center in the first place? She had never heard of such a thing before.

"What is this place?" Katie asked as she took a step forward to try to get Tommy to look at her, but Conner grabbed her again. It was not safe for her to go anywhere right now, as he saw sparks flying for some of the machines, due to their years of neglect.

"It's a command center," Jason said, simply, as Katie continued to look confused. He really was going to have to explain all of this to her, as Tommy had not told her a thing of his past until tonight and he hadn't even said that much then. Well he honestly didn't blame him for that, but Katie was sure to ask why, eventually. Right now she was just too startled to think of that sort of thing or she was showing manners, either way, they were extremely appreciative. "This is where we would meet when we were Power Rangers before and after a battle."

"That still makes no sense," Katie said as Billy saw a picture of the Aquitarians appear on the viewing globe.

"Power Rangers?" Celestria asked as she appeared on the screen. She had been surprised to receive the signal from them, but it certainly was not the first time that they had asked them for a favor. She just hoped that she would be able to see one particular ranger. She hadn't seen him in years.

"Celestria, we need to know if you are monitoring Tommy's house?" Billy asked as he stepped in front of the screen, knowing that he was the only familiar face among the group. He was not even that familiar anymore, but at least she would recognize his voice.

"Yes, we are. Has something happened to him?" Celestria asked as Billy shook his head yes and then she continued on. She seemed to sense that they did not have a lot of time for friendly conversation. "We do not know who it was that attacked his home, but we are researching it, Billy."

"Will you contact me if you find out who it is?" Billy asked as she shook her head yes and then the screen went blank. Well, at least they had a start on all of this, but now they had to find the power source that was affecting Katie. That was not going to be as easy as contacting another planet, by any means. Where was Alpha when they needed him the most? He was the one that could track down a power source in a matter of minutes, as compared to the days or weeks it might take them.

"Who is that?" Katie asked, as she was getting aggravated at not knowing anything that was going on. Tommy then turned to answer her question, although he didn't want to do that. She didn't need to know any of this that was going on. He knew that he wanted to keep all of this a secret from her, considering the fact that this was not the life that he wanted her to have to live.

"Katie, it's a really long story. Do you really want to hear all of it?" Tommy asked, as Katie sat down on the cold, steel floor and shook her head yes. She was now involved and she needed to have some idea about what was going on, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. He still wanted to try to protect her from it all, in some sort of odd way, although that hope was fading fast. She would eventually have to know everything. He just didn't want to have to tell her tonight. "Well, we…Katie, don't make me talk about it right now. I'll tell you all about it when I have enough time."

"Okay," Katie said, as Conner sat down beside her and put his arm around her. Neither of them had any clue what time it was or where exactly the Command Center was located on Earth, if was even on Earth, but they both knew they might as well get comfortable. They were going to be here for quite a while and they were going to be delegated to do absolutely nothing.

"He doesn't like talking about it. He didn't like telling us about it, actually he made us watch a video," Conner said, simply, as he had asked about it before and gotten the same answer.

He felt out of place in this command center, but he was the only source of comfort Katie had right now, as Tommy was acting strangely. There was something about being here that changed him. Something that triggered him to become very guarded against everyone. He didn't know if it began with the past few times he had been here or before that when he had dated Kim, but either way he was much more guarded in this Command Center than in his own.

"Probably because of me," Kim muttered as Tommy looked over at her. Well, she was right about it, but he didn't think that she would know exactly how he felt. She hadn't really been around him since they had broken up all those years ago and it didn't seem that she would still be able to read his emotions.

"Whoa," Billy said, in pure shock as he saw where the power source was emanating from and it seemed as if there was some other mission needed to reach them. He was sure that Tommy was going to love to hear that one. He absolutely hated going on missions, but at least he would have someone with him this time. "Tommy…"

"What?" Tommy asked, as he walked over to the scanners and saw that Billy was pointing to a vicinity on the screen that seemed to be showing the general power characteristics. "Well, who should get the powers?"

"Tommy, Conner, Kim, Jason, and me," Katie said without so much as a small stutter in her words. It seemed as if she was being taken over again. Tommy was now seeing the same difference in Katie that Conner had seen yesterday and it scared him as well. He, also, felt the need to listen to her every word. He knew that it was important for him to listen, if she was going to say anything. "It is not going to be easy. The powers are much stronger than any others you have ever had."

"No sixth person?" Jason asked as she looked at him and firmly shook her head no. The look she gave him made him think that she knew best, even if he couldn't believe that one. She had never been a Power Ranger before and he could not believe why she would know all of this information. "Tommy, what's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure, but we need to figure it out soon," Tommy said as Katie suddenly went back to normal, but found herself confused and unsteady on her feet.

"Katie, you have to quit doing that," Conner said, as she leaned back against him, while Kim and Tommy gave them a look. It reminded them too much of themselves, except for the fact that they were not Power Rangers right now. They were just normal teenagers, but they were not sure how much longer that would last.

"I can't help it. It's like something is taking over me and when it does I have to do what it says," Katie said as Tommy looked at her. He had been evil enough times to know what that felt like and he had even put the rangers in danger because of it some times, but this just seemed different. It seemed as if she had foresight, of some kind, which was a power he had never seen a ranger have before.

"Just warn me if it's even possible," Conner said as Tommy took notice of how gentle Conner was being with his sister.

He often had a hard time with Kira and knowing when to back off, but is was completely different with Katie and he could clearly see it. Many of the others, however, were thinking of how Tommy had been with Kim, when she was in the same situation and it was scary to see this happening. They had already been through one tough breakup, could they stand it if they had to go through another one?

"I would, if I could, but I don't think that I can. I haven't realized that it is going to happen the last two times that it has," Katie said, as Kim walked out of the room and Tommy soon followed her.

It was hurting both of them to watch what they were in those two people and they didn't really know where it had gone wrong. Their life had been great, but it had dissolved around them and they didn't know how to explain it. They had had too much crap happen to them lately.

"Hey, hold up," Tommy said, as Kim was running out into the desert. She just didn't want to face this, even now. She didn't know if she was ready to face the horrible music of her relationship with Tommy. She hated seeing this sort of thing, seeing what she had given up and she couldn't deal with this. She needed to get away from it all.

"Why'd you come?" Kim asked, wiping her eyes and then continuing on her way. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but she knew that she was going away from here, if she could manage to maintain her eyesight and her footing.

"Because I know you too well," Tommy said, as he caught her wrist and spun her around. "And I know you didn't come all this way to turn around and go back without talking this out."

"You are willing to talk about it? You are willing to go through all that pain again?" Kim asked, startled that he brought it up. She had actually expected him to avoid her the way he had last time, but time had changed the both of them. They couldn't continue to wait and hope that things would get better, because they weren't going to

"Well, I think I should be ready. It's been a very long time, Kim and I've had some time to think about it all," Tommy said, as Kim took a step back and stumbled over a rock, but Tommy caught her. He always seemed to be there to catch her when she needed it the most and right now was definitely one of those times. "So what happened?"

"It's more like what didn't happen, Tommy. Let me see if I can explain this without you coming over here to kill me. Well, Tommy, there really was some one else and he was nice, for a while. He was possessive and he tempted me into almost quitting gymnastics and I knew I had made a mistake then. You would have never asked me to do that and I wish I could say that I am out here without anyone waiting on me back in Florida, but that would be a lie. I'm dating someone, it's not going great, but I am still dating someone. I can't just jump headfirst back into things," Kim said, as he nodded his head that he understood and he let it all sink in for a little while before he responded.

"I got the feeling that was how things are with you. I'd be lying to tell you that I'm single, but after this weekend of not calling her and missing school next week, I don't know if she'll be able to take it. I can't keep putting her through false hope; I've been doing it all summer. If she doesn't want to break it off, then I'm just going to have to do it myself. I can't continue to do her like this. She deserves to have someone that will fully love her," Tommy said, sitting down next to her on a boulder and slipping his arm around her shoulders.

"How have you been treating her? I can't really imagine you treating someone badly," Kim said, as she looked out into the clear desert. There was not a car in sight and she knew that they probably wouldn't see any today, no one ever really came up here were the Command Center was, except them.

"I cannot continue to let her think that I love her. She's a great girl, Kim, but I can never be happy with my life like this, believe me, I've tried it. I've tried moving on and picturing her as my wife and our kids, but it never seems right," Tommy said, as he got the feeling that she didn't know about his parents' death. He had thought Jason would mention it to her, but it now seemed as if it was his job to do so. He didn't want to have to tell her all of this, but he didn't have a choice aboiut it. She had to know what had been going on in his life.

"What makes it so bad? You have a great life Tommy. Look at everything that you have been able to do," Kim said, as she wondered why he was telling her all of this. It didn't make sense that he would open up his heart to her so soon.

"That's what people think, but I'm not happy. Katie notices it and my parents did before they died. Kim, I honestly haven't been happy since I put you on that plane to go to Florida. I knew that crap was going to happen, but I never imagined it would be what it was," Tommy said as Kim took in everything.

She couldn't believe his parents had died, Jason hadn't even mentioned that to her when she had called him yesterday to say that she was going to be in Angel Grove this weekend. She was sure that Jason knew by then that Tommy was coming down for the weekend. His parents' death, however, did explain the change in his demeanor, but it didn't explain why he had done some other things. He was being extra careful about her.

"Tommy," Kim started to say as he cut her off and she suddenly knew why her relationship wasn't working. He could not stop her dead in her tracks with one look and Tommy still could do that, after all these years apart. He knew how to read her, he knew how to take care of her and he knew how to hold her in a way that made her feel comforted.

"I don't expect you to feel the same, I'd be stupid to expect that, but after all of this is over…whenever you are in Angel Grove, give me a call. Sometimes I need to talk to people besides Jason. You know how he can be about things," Tommy said as he stood up, but Kim grabbed him by the waist of his pants. She just had to get him comfortable around her, then maybe they could work on getting their relationship back, somehow.

"Tommy, what makes you think that you will never be more than a friend to me ever again?" Kim asked as he spun around and stared. He had definitely not expected to hear that from her, not right away.

"Can we take things slow?" Tommy asked as she nodded her head. They both had to end their relationships, but after this weekend, it wouldn't be hard to do. They just didn't know what laid ahead of them and if they had, they would have already sent out the call. Rangers never are able to keep up with someone who is outside of their world, while they are having to run off to save the world that they all love.

AN: I know that it is a kinda crappy end to a chapter, but I hope to make it up to you in the next chapter.


	7. A Little Bit of Evil

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers, but I do own the characters of Katie Oiver, Belstan, and Gahaleigh.

The Oliver's house was surprisingly uninhabited when we attacked tonight. No one was home and no one here seems to care that this investigation was supposed to have some sort of human contact, particularly with the male Oliver. We, however, found that there were many more secrets about the one called Thomas Oliver. I just wonder how long he has been keeping this little secret from the rest of the world and how much it will hurt when we act upon his secret.

"Belstan, we have found no one at the Oliver residence. It appears that they received some sort of warning and vacated the premises. The younger Oliver is very attentive to our motives," Gahaleigh said, as Belstan appeared to be just as dissatisfied as he felt about the situation.

The plan for this mission had been to meet either Thomas or Katie. He had heard that both of them were formidable fighters. He had the plan to find out why Thomas was feared by all of the evils he had encountered in the past. Zordon was no longer here and none of these Power Rangers knew about him. His rangers had long left the planet from what he had been able to find out. He figured that he would be able to destroy enough of the earth to guarantee that no rangers would fight. That was before he found out about Thomas and the past that had seemingly endless boundaries. There was some sort of fear that seemed to strike evil when they heard this man's name.

"Did you find anything that could be to our benefit? I am sure his Power Ranger life has trickled into his public life in more ways than what was evident. He has had to be very careful for no one to truly suspect what he is," Belstan said as Gahaleigh held out the photo he had found sitting on the bed in Thomas's room. They had ransacked his house, but he had found the picture. These were the Power Rangers that had obviously worked with Zordon, now he just had to find them. They must be destroyed and then he could execute his brilliant plan. He knew that as long as Zordon's rangers were around, there was a chance that they would be stopped before they could even start. "Wonderful, more Power Rangers to torture. Who is the one he is with?"

"We are not sure. We could not find any other evidence of the Power Rangers and Thomas did a good job of hiding his past. He almost looks like a normal person, although we could detect power surges throughout the house. It is obvious that there is much more there that we could not get to," Gahaleigh said as Belstan made a smirk form on his lips. These people rarely were around Thomas, but it was only a matter of time before one of them turned his whereabouts over to them.

"But even the best Power Rangers are only human and he has more there than these. Go back and look harder. That house holds a deep secret, you must find out what it is, because it is foolish to try to take him on without any more knowledge than what we have," Belstan said as Gahaleigh bowed and left the hot, fiery pit. The darkness outside was amazing as the dubons glowed a wicked green. They were going back and they were going to hit them harder than before.

_Command Center_

"Tommy, come here. The Aquitarians have contacted us, but they found nothing except the presence of evil in your house. We knew that Tommy, but the powers should be easily gotten to by us. We just need to choose two people to go get them. I don't think that it will be necessary to send five of you, especially considering how things have been going," Billy said, as Celestria had told him that two rangers should be plenty to get these powers and get back, alive. He just had the feeling that having to choose two people would be rather controversial among them. They all wanted to go and help get the powers; it was in their nature.

"Billy, you know I will go, but I don't know if we should leave everyone so unprotected," Tommy said, as Katie glared up at her brother from her position at his elbow. He was not going to be able to get away with that load of crap. They were protected as there were plenty of other rangers around here.

"Earth to Tommy. You've all been Power Rangers, except for me and I've taken karate from you and you haven't exactly been easy on us. I wouldn't say that we are defenseless exactly, maybe inexperienced, but definitely not defenseless," Katie said as Tommy looked down at her in a slight state of shock that she had talked to him. She rarely spoke up like this at all and he wondered where in the world it was coming from. Had something happened over the last few hours to change her whole demeanor so much?

"She's right, Tommy. I am sure that if you and Jason go it will not be a big deal. We can protect ourselves for a few hours," Aisha said as Kim nodded.

She couldn't help but agree with her although she was not sure her opinion would matter too much to them. She had just come back to California and it hadn't even been with possible ranger duties in mind. It really had been just to visit her friends, which she should have known would involve ranger duties somehow.

"Whoa, I wasn't suggesting Jason go with me," Tommy said as he really did feel that they would be vulnerable now. He trusted all of them but Billy, Aisha, and Kim had not kept up their conditioning in the way that they had. They hadn't had to for their jobs.

"Well, I am. I think that it would be best. The rest of us should be able to take care of ourselves for a few days, at the absolute least," Billy said with an air of finality in his voice. He knew that this was exactly what needed to be done. They were the ones that could do this mission the fastest and they did not know what exactly they were dealing with, not yet anyway.

"Just us?" Jason asked questioningly and Kim nodded her head. Billy had been blatantly clear and he could not have that much patience today left today. He had not been expecting to have to suddenly remember all of his ranger information and he was quite frankly, a little bit stressed. "Kim, why are you nodding your head? You don't want to be alone with Tommy?"

"Nice one Jason, very original," Tommy said as they looked over at him. They had failed to think that Kim and Tommy would be able to talk things out quickly, but they obviously had.

"You, two…are friends again?" Jason asked and Tommy nodded his head while Katie poked Conner to get his attention, she had the feeling it was more than friends.

"As much as I would love to hear this conversation, the two of you are wasting time that we don't have. You need to get going," Katie said pointedly and Tommy nodded a thank you towards her. He could handle it all right on his own, but he could not deal with the others taunting him for his decision to go ahead and get this mess out of the way.

"Bye," Billy said as he pressed the teleportation code into the machine. They left in rays of black light and landed in a pond, light years away. "Okay we need to survey the damage that was done to Tommy's home. Are you willing to do that?"

"Yes, but not alone," Katie said, as Billy smiled. She had the ability to state the obvious, but he was not going to bring that up right now.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to send you by yourself. Kim, do you want to go?" Billy asked, as he had this idea form in his head, letting him know that Kim might need to see Tommy's current lifestyle. She seemed to be getting re-involved with him very quickly.

"Sure, Billy, just remind me how to use the teleporter. We're going to have to leave sometime and I don't want to get stuck there waiting for you," Kim said and he then gave her a crash course in teleportation 101. Then they were on their way.

"Listen, we have to monitor the Earth for any suspicious activities. The evil might have figured out how unarmed we really are," Billy said, as they looked at him. They were surely in for a long night, that was at least what they thought.

AN: I know that this is a short chapter, but I promise the next one will be much better, just stick with me on it.


	8. Beginning of Devastation

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers but I do own the characters of Katie Oliver, Belstan, Gahaleigh, and Andie Pridgen.

_Tommy's Home_

"Ouch," Kim muttered as she landed lopsidedly on top of a couch, which caused her to fall into a heap on the floor. Katie did not fair much better, as she stumbled off the coffee table and heard the steel clanging underneath her footsteps. Well, at least she knew that she was not upstairs, if it had been this dark upstairs, that would have scared the living wits out of her. She knew that there had been a lot of damage done, she just hoped that it was something that they would be able to repair.

"Conner locked us in here. There must be some stairs in here somewhere. I can't really remember anything that happened immediately after I got him down here, though. Everything kinda went fuzzy," Katie said calmly, as she began feeling her way around the room. She had no clue where the light switch might be, but she didn't have to wait long. The lights came on, as the room finally detected a person down there. "Wow."

"I know. Tommy did a good job on this," Kim said, impressed by what her somewhat challenged ranger colleague had been able to do.

"I think he had some help. No, let me rephrase that, he had to have some help to pull this off. He would probably blow something up if he did this by himself," Katie said with a small smile.

She doubted her brother had been able to do this by himself, he had actually been able to burn water before, and building this was just too much for him. She knew he would have probably blown up his house in the process.

"So I'm not the only one that is thinking he couldn't do this by himself. He still has the tendency to forget doesn't he?" Kim asked as Katie nodded, at least the two of them seemed to get along, in an odd sort of way.

If making fun of Tommy was a way to get to know his sister, then she was more than willing to do that. She had the feeling she would be spending so much more time here and she needed to know Katie. She came along with getting to be friends with Tommy again. It seemed that Tommy was not going to be like some people and just forget her and she understood why. He knew what it felt like to be forgotten.

"There is absolutely no way, but we're wasting time down here. I just hope we can open that door. There's no telling what could be on top of it after what we heard," Katie said, as she walked up the stairs and unbolted the door. She tried to push the door, but it would budge, yet.

"It'll move. It'll just take a good push or two, unless the refrigerator landed on top of it," Kim said, as the two of them pushed against the door and it flew open. Tommy's kitchen table clattered to the floor again and Katie looked around. Her house had been absolutely destroyed, but she couldn't really take it in. She had a job to do and that was to see what might have been taken from their house. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine. Come on, I have the feeling that something has been taken," Katie said, as she stood up and automatically headed towards the stairs.

Kim was just standing around looking at the house. It was obvious that it had been a nice house, before whoever it was ransacked it for everything that they were worth. Why would they want to do this to Tommy now? Why couldn't they have waited? Actually just why him? Why not one of the other rangers?

"Katie, where are your rooms?" Kim asked as Katie pointed up the stairs, which was partially blocked by a desk that had been thrown into it from a study of some sort she assumed. "Is Tommy going to hate that this has been destroyed?"

"Yeah, considering that we had just finished the remodeling," Katie said as Kim watched her crawl under the desk and then walked towards Tommy's room. She didn't want to see how bad her own room looked. She had never imagined that her home would look like this, especially after everything she had made Tommy promise.

"What did your brother keep in here?" Kim asked as Katie walked over and began frantically searching his bedding, which had been left mostly untouched.

The picture of the original rangers was missing and she knew that was not good. These people knew what they were looking for and that might have been the evidence they needed to go after the other former rangers. She did not need anything else on her conscience right now.

"More than I ever knew about. Look in the top of his closet, I think there is some sort of hidden door up there. I've seen him throw stuff up there when I come in some times," Katie said as Kim hauled herself over the mostly black clothing and pulled herself up on to the top shelf. She looked around and sure enough, there was a small door towards the back of the shelf. Tommy must have known that these things were likely to come after him some time in the future. He planned it out far too well to not suspect anything.

"You know this is bordering on insanity. Your brother must be the most secretive person I've ever known, although I can't say that I really blame him after everything that has happened to him," Kim said as she pulled the photo albums and noticed one that she was sure she had given him years before. Why had he kept it? She knew how he felt now but she had imagined for years that he would have torn everything apart when she broke up with him. It seemed that he was not able to do that, but she didn't know why at all.

"I'm glad you agree, we don't really have a choice about it. He just needs to remember his life without anyone else knowing about it. You know why some of that is a secret," Katie said as she shifted through the clothing and looked through his bedside table. There were some things she needed to keep for him and she hoped she could pick it all up.

"I know. Have you gotten most of the stuff that Tommy needs from here?" Kim asked as Katie shook her head yes. She didn't need to say anything about the picture to Kim, Tommy was the only one that needed to know that it was missing. "What about your room?"

"I don't want to know how it looks," Katie said, as Kim shoved her towards the next door and peered in. Tommy's bathroom and there was a door at the other end, but she could not imagine Tommy sharing his bathroom with Katie. That would just be too weird, although this house held some weird things already. "That's his study."

"We need to look in there," Kim said running past Katie. That was where she would have put her most precious things. She imagined Tommy would be the exactly the same, if not even worse. "What does he have in there?"

"No clue, really. I've never gone in there and I don't think I would want to. He would kill me if I found out any more of his secrets tonight," Katie said, as Kim tried to open the door, it was locked. That did not surprise Katie at all. Tommy kept that room under lock and key, no matter what was happening, which now made sense to her. "That's the only entrance and Tommy has the key."

"They could probably teleport into it," Kim said, as Katie shook her head no. Kim might have known her brother at one time, but he was much smarter about his valuables now. She wouldn't doubt that he had put as much protection on that room as on the command center in the basement. No one was going to be able to make it in there unless they had an atomic bomb. "Why not Katie?"

"Tommy probably did something to keep that from happening, he's kinda paranoid about things. It probably has to do with something like only those that have powers can enter and neither of us fit that mold right now," Katie said as Kim nodded. She knew Tommy was like that to a point and she could only hope that he had been able to secure it well enough.

"Yeah, so how do you like it here?" Kim asked, trying to make some form of small talk as they headed towards Katie's room. She really didn't want her to be thinking about the damage that was probably done to her room.

"It's different, but he's all the family I have left. I have to make everything work out," Katie said as she opened the door and her room was even worse than Tommy's. Why would they ransack her room like this? She had never even been a ranger before. "No."

"Katie, why don't you just go look downstairs. I'll get you some clothes. You grab Tommy some clothes and then head down there. I don't think the two of you will be living here for awhile," Kim said, as Katie nodded her head and turned to walk out of the room. She did not want to deal with this. Her life had been changed enough as it was. She didn't know if she could deal with this as well. "Jeez, these people must know about Tommy's past."

"I can't believe this. I don't know if I can start over again," Katie muttered to herself as she grabbed Tommy a couple pairs of pants and a few shirts. She was sure that they would only be in Angel Grove for a few more days and Tommy did have clothes at Jason's, that was a plus. He had been planning on going to Angel Grove, but not for this sort of thing. She began her way downstairs when she heard a noise coming from the living room. Good grief, what was happening to her normal life?

"There is nothing here," Gahaleigh said as Katie stared down the stairs in shock. The door was open to the command center and this thing did not need to get in there. She had to get Kim downstairs and lock that door. The basement would reveal everything about Tommy and the other rangers he had worked with. They didn't need for anyone else to be in danger because of carelessness.

"Kim, come on," Katie said grabbing her and pulling her out of her room and into the hallway. "They're back."

"What?" Kim asked in shock as she looked at Katie and Katie silently placed a finger over her lips. They could not afford to be heard. They were not protected at all in this house and there only hope was to beat the monsters to the Command Center. "This isn't good, Kate."

"I know. Quick, before they decide to come back upstairs," Katie said as they slid under the desk and slipped down the remaining stairs in silence.

"Who are you?" Gahaleigh asked as they sprinted and dove into the open door and quickly bolted it against any outsiders. He pounded on the bit of flooring that he had seen slam shut and started to destroy the kitchen even more, hoping to find a button to open it, but the bolt was going to hold it shut no matter what. They had already pulled on the dinosaur skull once and it had done nothing.

"Okay, I press this button. Then I press this one. Then I click this, we ought to teleport any second now," Kim said and Katie, for the third time in the past day, felt herself being teleported away to some location.

"That was close," Katie said when they landed and the other rangers looked at them and their bounty. They rarely collected this much any time a home was destroyed, but they had been lucky. Tommy had been able to hide his valuables well, which had protected them all.

"What was close?" Billy asked, as Kim placed everything she was holding on the floor.

"Well, we've met one person that is after Tommy," Kim said and Billy looked over at her. Thank goodness, Tommy had not been there. He would not have been able to walk away from the fight that would rage in his mind. They just hoped he would get back quickly, so they would not be afraid to go home anymore.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have the next chapter out soon.


	9. Powers Unknown: The First Warriors

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers but I do own the characters of Katie Oliver, Belstan, Gahaleigh, Andie Pridgen, Denlione, and the Tinneanites.

_Tommy and Jason's Mission_

'Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.' That was the only thing that popped into Tommy's mind when he landed neck high in a lake of purple water on the weird planet that he had been sent to, to find the power source that would help them defeat whoever was attacking them now. Yeah, this seemed like a wonderful place to find a 'power source', but he had to trust that Billy knew what was going on here. Thank goodness he could see the shoreline from here; he was not really dressed for a long swim anywhere, as his boots were already weighing him down into the mud.

"You think Billy would be able to teleport us closer to the land, don't you?" Jason asked as he spit out the bit of water that had gotten his mouth, when he unexpectedly landed in a lake. Billy was definitely a little bit out of practice with the teleportation device, but at least he had landed them on the right planet or so he hoped. He would hate for them to have landed on the wrong planet and be stuck here without any powers to get them back to Earth.

"He probably teleported us to the closest reading he could get on the powers. This doesn't make any sense, but things rarely do in the ranger world. We both should know that by now," Tommy said, as he started walking towards the land, hoping to see some sort of building or even a rock pile that might point them in the right direction.

That, however, was not anywhere in sight. The only thing that was, was a dense forest of trees. It looked like they didn't have a choice but to go in there and hope that they found what they were looking for. They could imagine the disappointments of the others if they didn't find the powers and returned home empty handed.

"Well, looks like we're in for a hike and I've got plenty of questions to ask you to waste the time away," Jason said as Tommy looked at him. He knew he should have talked someone else into going with him, for this very reason, but he was going to have do deal with Jason's questioning sooner or later. He might as well deal with it now when there was not an audience to help think of more questions.

"Jason, you don't need to know about her. You don't need to know about what is going on between the two of us. All any of you need to know is that we are fine," Tommy said as Jason looked over at him. This was his business ever since the two of them made his life a living hell by staying away from each other.

"Yeah, I do need to know. Did you tell her about Andie?" Jason asked as Tommy nodded his head yes.

Jason could not believe that at all. Tommy was just asking Kim to jump down his throat, but that obviously hadn't happened. So, what was going on in Kimberly's life that Jason didn't know about? He thought that things were fine with her boyfriend, but it was obvious that he was way off the mark on that interpretation.

"She told me about her boyfriend too. We can't really afford to not be honest with each other anymore, Jason. We've done enough of that in the past and it didn't work out so good for us," Tommy offered, as Jason stared at him.

It had taken him nearly three months to pull that sort of information out of her, once he figured out she was hiding something and Tommy had managed to do that in about three minutes from what he was able to tell. How could Tommy still get to her like that? They hadn't even been around each other since the little accident that had happened when she last came back to California.

"That had to be an interesting conversation," Jason commented as he heard a soft swoosh go by him, but he ignored it, thinking it was just a breeze as it did seem that it could be fairly breezy here. At least that was what he as telling himself in order to try to maintain his sanity. He knew that things were not going to be easy, but the longer that they could be calm, the better it would be on them.

"She's been planning on breaking up with him for awhile, Jason and I told you about what is going on with Andie. I think it is the right time for the both of us to do what needs to be done and maybe find a way back to each other," Tommy said as Jason stared at him.

If the two of them got back together, he would jump up and down like a kid on Christmas day waiting to open presents. That would be the day that everyone else had been waiting for, for almost a decade. A decade that had tried all of them in more ways than they could imagine. He just hoped that he was not jumping to any sort of assumption here. If he was, he was afraid of what he might do to Kim and Tommy.

"Tommy, are you absolutely crazy? Do you even know what might happen to her career if she does that? Her boyfriend is also her boss. It's going to be hard to deal with all of this," Jason said, as Tommy sighed. He was sure that there would be some sort of catch with her being so willing to break up with her boyfriend, but it didn't really bother him too much. Why did Jason decide to bring that up now though? He could have waited until Kim was around so she could dispute it, but he was going to point it out when it was only Tommy.

"Well, if she becomes a ranger again it is not very likely that she will have or will want to go back to Miami. Won't you have to choose a better time for your classes? It's not much different for her. It's the choice that all rangers have to make when things like this happen," Tommy said and Jason smiled.

Well that little lie had riled Tommy up a good bit, so maybe he would actually do what he had said he would do earlier. That was all he could hope would happen, as none of them were sure that either Tommy or Kim could very well stay loyal to someone else with the other around.

"Okay, Tommy. Look, let's find these powers and get back to the Earth. They are going to need us there if whatever it was attacks again ," Jason said, as a much more powerful swoosh skimmed his right ear and he ducked to the ground with Tommy only seconds behind him. It was obvious that he had heard it as well, because Jason had not muttered a word about what was happening. "Looks like something is trying to kill us, but we expected that."

"Yeah, that normally happens in situations like this," Tommy said, rather sarcastically, as he looked around to see where the blasted swoosh had come from and he couldn't see a thing around here. That was until the white orb of light hit him in the face and dissolved into his body. This was certainly the oddest thing that had happened in awhile and yet he was sure that he had somehow just attained powers beyond his wildest dreams.

"Tommy are you all right?" Jason asked, as he had been hit by a similar red orb and now other orbs of light were hovering around them, seeming to be looking for their owners to collide with as well.

"Yeah, but is that all that it is going to take? I mean we usually have to fight some thing in order to get the powers. They don't just dive into us for not reason," Tommy said, as a man appeared a started walking their way, unnoticed.

He had been the keeper of the powers for centuries and he knew it would only be a matter of time before some one came to use them. He had never assumed though, that it would be some of Zordon's own rangers. He had heard of Zordon's horrible fate and he had thought it would make it to where he was left alone for eons more than predicted, but the prophecy still held true. He was still meeting these rangers who had walked through the water unharmed.

These rangers were still here seeking the powers of old, the powers of the first warriors known to the universe to protect Earth. The Tinneanites were these warriors and he was sure they knew nothing of them. No one did until they arrived here and lived through their watery grave. That was where he truly came in to place. He had to make a bridge between the past and the present, so that they would undestand the full destiny that was before them now.

"You survived the water. That is much more than others who have tried can say," Denlione said as Tommy looked over at the man that was walking towards them, wearing only loose fitting white pants.

He did not age the way humans did and that served him well with these young people. He did not know how well they would take to an old man walking toward them in those clothes, although that was how he felt. He was very old and very tired of holding onto these powers, but he knew that he would hold onto them forever. Someone had to guarantee that they would be here if and when they were ever needed again.

"So it was no mistake we landed there?" Tommy asked, as Denlione shook his head no. There had been no mistake in where they had landed. They would have died if they were not meant to be the ones to take these powers and that was something that he felt they understood now.

"What danger are you in, Zordon's rangers?" Denlione asked, as Tommy and Jason stared at him with their mouths hanging wide open, not really knowing what to say to that sort of remark. How did this man know that they were Zordon's rangers? There were not many people that could claim that they knew that, but he somehow seemed certain he was correct and he was.

"My home was attacked and we have no powers to try to defeat the evil," Tommy said simply and Denlione nodded his head. So that was the attack he detected earlier today. This was not going to be easy to explain to them. They had so much they needed to know and so little time to learn about it.

"Have you ever heard of the Tinneanites?" Denlione asked and they both shook their heads no. He had expected that much, but he had hoped that he would not have to begin at the very beginning. It was a long story and he was sure that he might lose their attention along the way. "Well, I imagined it would be so. Excuse me, but I am an old man and I do forget things at times, so my story might break in some places, but please do be patient with me.

"The Tinneanites were the first warriors of the universe; they protected all those who needed it, on any planet at any time they were needed. On each planet, they left some remnants of themselves for those who might need the powers in years to come. Many of the planets have become depleted of their resources of power, although only one other come here and been able to get through the water you see out there. Many have died trying, but the Tinneanites did not want these powers that they had to wind up in the wrong hands. They did not want people who would not truly use them to protect their planet. You, obviously, have the qualities they were looking for and you have ever since you became Zordon's rangers.

"Zordon's rangers were always the closest to the elements of these warriors. These warriors, however, held some deep dark secrets. Their secrets were not much more than that that you hold, but you must know them in order to understand why your power picked you. These powers will pick the person most like their original owner.

"The white ranger, Candite, suffered a severe emotional loss at a young age. He had the power to be strong, yet loving although many said he should have never had that sort of life after his heartbreak. He should have never been able to love the one that hurt him so much. He, however, had the strength to forgive and the strength to find himself again. He could have turned over his powers many times, but he chose to work through his horrid problems and stay as a ranger. The white ranger will find that he or she has suffered many of the same problems as Candite. Tell them this.

"The red ranger, Quar, was the leader of the pack. He held them together when everything seemed to be going wrong. He was Candite's shoulder to cry on and the one who helped Candite to realize what he would lose if he just gave up. His life was dedicated to leading and helping his fellow warriors. He died before all the rest with very little left to give. He gave everything he had in every battle they fought and often times came back here with less injuries than the rest, but more stress placed on his shoulders than before. Do not allow your red ranger to become far too stressed or he will take the same road that Quar walked down eons ago. He or she will have already felt this pressure before and it will be a constant reminder that Quar sacrificed almost everything for the team. Tell them this.

"The blue ranger, Kendar, was not necessarily the most agile or most experienced in the fighting that needed to be done. He, however, used the ruthlessness that had been instilled in him at a young age by his family. He had been taught that anything worth doing was worth doing as well as he could manage. He was the one that joked. He was the one that laughed and he was the one that mourned more than the others. He had high, highs and low, lows, but he was the inspiration for many of the warriors. He held them up when they needed it most and he helped Quar when he was far too serious. Your blue ranger will be a jokester, I can feel it, but he will be capable of loving hard and easily that was Kendar's greatest attribute. Tell them this.

"The black ranger, Nivine, was agile, graceful, and most importantly deceiving to evil's eye. She walked the line closer to evil than the rest of them would even imagine, but she ultimately pushed Candite down more than anyone else. That was Candite's broken heart and Candite's only love. He found a way to love her again that no one quite understands, but they were inseparable and they were stronger than any two put together. They were the warriors most feared by all evil and they were the warriors most scared to leave their powers behind. They loved their job and Nivine ultimately helped Candite realize that he must let it go. They lived a long life and Nivine continued her work, at a level lower than most believed, but she was unlucky about it and left Candite alone. Remember this, do not allow your black ranger to do this or they might suffer the same fate. Your black ranger will have greatly betrayed someone and is hoping to find peace in his or her sights. Tell them this.

"The pink ranger, Vige, suffered personal losses, but not from some love affair. She lost all of her family, not once, but twice in her life. She was the hardest to break and she found it the hardest to trust those around her. Kendar was her saving grace. He helped her more than anyone else did. She was the warrior that was quiet, yet precise. She was the warrior who found themselves in difficult positions, but somehow always managed to slip through the evil's grasp. She was the rock, the steady one, when no one, not even Quar could be steady. Your pink ranger will have dealt with these things. Tell them this.

"All of these rangers held things that helped them protect the universe. I shall send this tape with you, so they can hear. Remember this and when your powers have served you, they will leave you and return here. You will never get them back once they are lost. Where can I send you?" Denlione asked, as they were startled that they did not get to ask any types of questions, but they accepted it. They now knew exactly were their powers came from.

"Earth, Zordon's Command Center," Tommy said, as Denlione nodded at him. He could not tell them of the danger ahead. They would have to learn of it on their own and he hoped they would learn from the mistakes of the warriors these rangers powers came from.

"May the power protect you," Denlione said and Jason and Tommy exchanged a glance. They were back in business, but they were not ready for this at all. They had been given more responsibilty than they had honestly expected when they came back to this.

AN: That's the end of the chapter, but I'll try to have the next one out in a couple of days instead of a week. Review if you wish and happy reading!


	10. Delivering the Powers

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers but I do own the characters of Katie Oliver, Belstan, Gahaleigh, Andie Pridgen, Denlione, and the Tinneanites.

Sunset in Angel Grove, there is no better time of day than that for anyone that had ever experienced it. Katie knew it was not in her best interest to be sitting outside alone with the recent attack on her home, but she desperately needed sometime to think about everything she had seen when she had gone back there. This was not the type of life that she thought she would live with Tommy.

She had had her family destroyed twice in her life and her home was now destroyed as well. She couldn't deal with it. She needed her brother to be here with her, to help her understand this mess that she had found herself in. No one seemed to be able to understand her as well as him and all she needed was a little bit of understanding, so she would be able to get through this. She was not sure that she could be able to handle this at all.

"Hey," Conner said as he walked outside and saw that she was holding her knees to her body, trying to shield herself it seemed from some invisible predator. He had known she would be upset, but he had never thought it would be this bad, but he hadn't seen her house yet, either. He had the feeling he was not going to like what he saw there.

"Oh, hi Conner," Katie said as he sat down on the ground and looked up at her with a slight bit of concern showing on his face. She really wondered how long he had been there and if he had been watching her for a long time. She knew he was concerned, but it was still uncomfortable to have him there. "How long have you been out here?"

"I just came outside to check on you. You've been out here for awhile, Kate," Conner said and he heard her sigh. That was not what he really wanted to hear from her right now, but there was not much that he could do about the impression that she had gotten of her house. "How bad was it?"

"It was awful. I've never seen a house look like that before. I didn't know that it was possible to have something like that happen to you when it's not done by a burglar," Katie said quietly and Conner could feel that she was trying to get him to go away, but he couldn't do that to her. He was sure that she didn't need to be left alone right now or it would only get worse.

"Don't shut down, it took Tommy this long to get you to open up to anyone, especially any that might care about you," Conner pleaded and she finally looked him in the eyes.

He was right, but she couldn't deal with this sort of disaster after the last few months. Her home was basically destroyed and her security had been shattered again. She didn't know if it was worth living a life that was constantly being shattered by one thing or the next.

"Conner, how could these people continue to do this? How could they?" Katie asked desperate to grasp the concept of what was happening around her. He seemed to understand it so much better than she did and she could only hope he would enlighten her, somehow.

"These aren't the same people as before. For some reason, these things like to pick on Tommy. Listen this is not the first time it's happened and your brother was prepared for it to happen again. He just didn't want it to, none of us wanted this to happen. It's nothing that we're proud to say that we're involved with," Conner said as Katie slipped down from her perch and placed her head on his shoulder, which honestly surprised him. He had not expected her to really want to be near to him anymore. Not after the huge secret he had been keeping from her the whole time that he knew her, but she had come to terms with the secrets rather quickly. She just didn't completely understand that life that she would be living.

"Why didn't I know?" Katie asked and Conner sighed, he could only hope that he was able to dig Tommy out of this hole that he had landed himself in by being a ranger in the past.

"He hoped no one would come after Mesogogg. He didn't want you to worry about his past, he didn't think that it would come back again. I would have bet my soccer career that he would not be attacked again, but it happened. He's the only Power Ranger to have been on more than three teams. That should tell you something about him and why this continues to happen. He's the only threat that most evils percieve anymore," Conner said and Katie let out a tiny sob and Conner was not sure what he had said to make her cry, but he knew that he wanted it to stop.

"So he lives like this? He's always in fear that something else will come after him?" Katie asked and Conner merely nodded his head as he gave her a tight hug. He couldn't think of anything else to do to try to comfort her and there was no use in lying. Katie was going to find out the truth now, no matter what anyone else wanted. "Conner, you don't have to be nice to me."

"If I was being nice to you, I would have left you out here by yourself to imagine what was going on. You needed to get some of this out; Tommy is going to expect you to step up now. You know that he doesn't want those his age to deal with this at all. He prefers teens, the older rangers don't heal as well after they have been hurt by these things as we do," Conner said, as Katie nodded.

It didn't bother her to fight evil, it just bothered her to have her life so interrupted again. She didn't know how many more times she could take this sort of thing without having a mental breakdown and she now understood Tommy's paranoia. She would be paranoid too if she had demented creatures after her.

"Conner, so I'll probably be a Power Ranger? I'll be living all of this too?" Katie asked tentatively and Conner nodded his head while Tommy and Kim walked out onto the desert.

They were surprised to see the two of them sitting down next to the boulder, but they smiled. At least the two of them were being able to use the boulder that they had propped up against themselves when they were younger. It always seemed to be the place that they could let themselves grieve over something and they couldn't help but wonder if Zordon himself had placed it there for that exact purpose.

"Hey! You two, come on!" Tommy said loudly, as Katie jerked her head up and looked at Tommy. He had a smile on his face, but she was sure that would change soon as she told him about the one picture that she knew was missing. He was not going to be happy with her at all.

"Why?" Katie asked, just to be argumentative. There was really no other thing that could make her happier than to see him get riled up over nothing.

"Powers, come on, Katie. It's not safe for anyone to be out here, especially considering how you've been reacting to things," Tommy said with a serious tone in his voice and she stood up to follow them inside with Conner close behind her.

He was still not sure that Dr. O would not jump on him for being out there alone with Katie, but she needed it and that was enough to make him stop worrying about Dr. O getting mad. That was until he showed up, he still struck a little bit of horror in Conner's heart, considering the fact that he had threatened him with several things in the past.

"Okay, we have these three remaining orbs of energy. We don't really know whom they will go to, but we do have a story to tell you once everyone has received their powers. Denlione was pretty insistent on us telling each power holder what their predecessor had done in their life. It seems our lives generally will mirror theirs in many ways, although that doesn't really give me a clue who will get the powers," Tommy said, as the three orbs buzzed around the room, before singling out, Kim, Katie, and Conner.

The three of them were knocked off their feet and landed on the steel floor with a thud and a severe headache. They should have warned them about that type of reaction, but they had not been standing up in order to be thrown anywhere and they didn't know that would happen. They were sure, however, that Kim, Conner, and Katie would not believe that.

"This is weird," Kim said as she looked down at her clothes and they were still the same as before. Usually they would be morphed after they had received powers, but that didn't happen this time.

"Yeah, we thought the same thing. We still don't know what color we are either," Jason said, as Billy handed out the morphers. He could tell that several of them were going to be shocked by their new color, but he was not going to tell them that until they saw themselves.

"Power up should suffice to activate the morphing sequence this time," Billy said, as they looked at him and nodded. Then they said those two words, which caused streaks of light to appear in the Command Center, before they were able to focus on each other.

"Oh my," Kim said, as she looked down at herself and held out her black clad hands. She had never thought that she would be the black ranger, but she still had to hear the story that led to her being picked for these colors. She would understand it all then.

"How do I take this off?" Katie asked, as she placed her hands on the pink helmet and started tugging at it in every way that she could imagine, but it would not come off. She was getting pretty desperate, as she had the feeling that she would be stuck in this thing forever.

"Katie, don't hurt yourself honey," Tommy said, as he walked over and unclipped the sides of the helmet and placed it in her hands. That was when she first saw that she was in pink and that her helmet had to have the oddest visor shape she had ever seen. It was merely a two inch wide black band that was wrapped around the entire helmet and she could tell that none of the others had seen that either. They were all in for some changes in uniform.

"Wow," Conner said, as he looked at everyone around the room and his eyes landed on Katie last, which caused him to actually say something.

"Down boy," Tommy said, threateningly, as Katie glared up at him, while several of the others laughed. Tommy always seemed to be very protective of anyone that he loved and they were sure that he would say something to Conner if he had said something to Kim as well.

"What's the story behind all this?" Kim asked, as she was holding her black helmet under her arm and Tommy and Jason exchanged a glance. This truly was the oddest story they had ever heard before, but it now made sense who had gotten which powers.

"I'll explain," Jason said, as Tommy seemed to sigh. He did not want to be the one to explain how each one of these people related to their color warrior from eons before. He was very grateful that Jason took it upon himself to explain it all to the rangers. "Denlione has held these powers since the first warriors, the Tinneanites died eons ago. There were five of them, Kendar, Quar, Vige, Nivine, and Candite. Candite was the white ranger, Quar was the red ranger, Kendar was the blue ranger, Nivine was the black ranger, and Vige was the pink ranger. He sent this tape with us, listen to it well."

"The white ranger, Candite, suffered a severe emotional loss at a young age. He had the power to be strong, yet loving although many said he should have never had that sort of life after his heartbreak. He should have never been able to love the one that hurt him so much. He, however, had the strength to forgive and the strength to find himself again. He could have turned over his powers many times, but he chose to work through his horrid problems and stay as a ranger. The white ranger will find that he or she has suffered many of the same problems as Candite. Tell them this."

"That makes sense now, doesn't it, Tommy?" Kim asked with a smile as he couldn't help but laugh as well. They both could think of the 'severe emotional loss' that he had suffered.

"The red ranger, Quar, was the leader of the pack. He held them together when everything seemed to be going wrong. He was Candite's shoulder to cry on and the one who helped Candite to realize what he would lose if he just gave up. His life was dedicated to leading and helping his fellow warriors. He died before all the rest with very little left to give. He gave everything he had in every battle they fought and often times came back here with less injuries than the rest, but more stress placed on his shoulders. Do not allow your red ranger to become far too stressed or he will take the same road that Quar walked down eons ago. He or she will have already felt this pressure before and it will be a constant reminder that Quar sacrificed almost everything for the team. Tell them this."

"Be quiet, you got your old color," Aisha said, as Jason had started to say something and they all couldn't help but laugh a little bit at her comment. There was no yellow ranger this time and that was certainly odd to them.

"The blue ranger, Kendar, was not necessarily the most agile or most experienced in the fighting that needed to be done. He, however, used the ruthlessness that had been instilled in him at a young age by his family. He had been taught that anything worth doing was worth doing as well as he could manage. He was the one that joked. He was the one that laughed and he was the one that mourned more than the others. He had high, highs and low, lows, but he was the inspiration for many of the warriors. He held them up when they needed it most and he helped Quar when he was far too serious. Your blue ranger will be a jokester, I can feel it, but he will be capable of loving hard and easily that was Kendar's greatest attribute. Tell them this."

"I'm supposed to be ruthless?" Conner asked, as Katie looked up at him and just shook her head. He was ruthless all right, he just didn't know about it yet.

"The black ranger, Nivine, was agile, graceful, and most importantly deceiving to evil's eye. She walked the line closer to evil than the rest of them would even imagine, but she ultimately pushed Candite down more than anyone else. That was Candite's broken heart and Candite's only love. He found a way to love her again that no one quite understands, but they were inseparable and they were stronger than any two put together. They were the warriors most feared by all evil and they were the warriors most scared to leave their powers behind. They loved their job and Nivine ultimately helped Candite realize that he must let it go. They lived a long life and Nivine continued her work, at a level lower than most believed, but she was unlucky about it and left Candite alone. Remember this, do not allow your black ranger to do this or they might suffer the same fate. Your black ranger will have greatly betrayed someone and is hoping to find peace in his or her sights. Tell them this."

"Holy shit," Kim said, as Tommy looked over at her and their eyes met. It was what the both of them had been praying would happen for ten years, so why in the world didn't they just go for it sooner?

"Real mature, Kim," Jason said with a smile, as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"The pink ranger, Vige, suffered personal losses, but not from some love affair. She lost all of her family, not once, but twice in her life. She was the hardest to break and she found it the hardest to trust those around her. Kendar was her saving grace. He helped her more than anyone else did. She was the warrior that was quiet, yet precise. She was the warrior who found themselves in difficult positions, but somehow always managed to slip through the evil's grasp. She was the rock, the steady one, when no one, not even Quar could be steady. Your pink ranger will have dealt with these things. Tell them this," Denlione's voice boomed over the intercom system as they all looked at Jason and Tommy, this seemed to be the oddest thing they had ever had happen.

"So that explains a lot," Kim said, as she looked over at Tommy in his white suit and he looked at her in her black suit. It was certainly the first time they had ever thought of things in that way while in the same room in a long time.

"Yeah," Tommy said as Kim walked over to him and he really looked at her for the first time and realized exactly what her being in that color meant, even without listening to Denlione's advice. It meant something else to him, something that hadn't occurred when he had first seen her in the black uniform. "Black?"

"Yeah, black, Tommy. Listen I need you to help me with something," Kim said and the other rangers looked at the both of them. Black and white, together as rangers was unheard of in their history. They had usually gone, pink-white, pink-red, and yellow-red; something like that, but from the way it sounded the black and white rangers would be together soon, as well as the pink and blue rangers. They were not sure that that had sunk in with Tommy, but they were sure they would find out when it did.

"What's that?" Tommy asked, as Kim held up her cell phone and he could only shake his head. He had to do this, not for her, but for the both of them. He just hoped that Andie would understand it. In an ideal world, this was not the way that he really wanted to break up with her.

"Call Andie and I'll call Mike," Kim said and Tommy nodded. It seemed like they both were going to get something that they deserved, although this was not going to be pleasant for either of them. Andie was going to be hurt by all of this, but he could not bear to drag it out any longer. It would only make things worse.

"Are you kidding?" Katie asked, as Kim had not been exactly discreet about what she was saying to Tommy.

"Katie," Tommy said warningly, as he knew the temper she could have on some touchy subjects and he was not sure whether he wanted Kim and Katie to go at it, yet. He knew that was going to be a fight where he would have to pick sides and Katie was not very likely to like the side that he would pick.

"Tommy," Katie said in the same tone of voice, while she placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "Look, you've really thought this out right?"

"Yes, now do you have any more objections before I call Andie?" Tommy asked and Katie shook her head no and smiled. "Why the smile?"

"I'm just glad you are finally doing something that you said you were going to do. We'd be miserable if the two of you never got along, especially with what you seem to want out of this," Katie said with a purposeful smile and Tommy nearly tackled her to the ground before he remembered that she was not Jason. Then he quickly caught her in a hug, to try to cover it up.

"Katie, how'd you know that?" Tommy asked, as Katie refused to look at him. "How'd you know, Katie?"

"Phone call," Katie whispered and Tommy actually smiled. He knew she had been worried about him, but he had not imagined her being worried enough to listen in to one of this telephone calls with Jason. She knew how those phone calls when some times, but she had been desperated enough to try it, just this once.

"Well, I should have known," Tommy said and he flipped open his phone and walked away from Katie. He was going to have to do this away from the others and Kim seemed to have the same idea.

"Hello," Andie said, as she answered her home telephone. Tommy hadn't called to tell her that he had made it all right, but she took that as forgetfulness on Tommy's part. She would eventually receive a call from him, it had always been like this when he went away.

"Andie," Tommy said and he could tell this was going to be one of the hardest phone calls he had ever had to make. She was going to be happy to hear from him and he was going to have to break down that happiness as quickly as he could.

"Tommy," Andie said cheerfully. "How's it going in Angel Grove?"

"Good, but Andie, we need to talk about something," Tommy said uncomfortably as he could tell Andie had caught his shift in mood. This was not going to be very pleasant, from what she could tell, on either of them.

"What is it, Tommy?" Andie asked in all seriousness and Tommy knew that he was about to hurt her badly, but he didn't think he could wait any longer and he was also being selfish.

"Us," Tommy said plainly and Andie sighed. Tommy had been distant for a long time. She had just hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but she had seen it coming and at least Tommy was finally ready to admit that he was not happy.

"You want to break up, don't you?" Andie asked and Tommy stood there, dumbfounded. She had beaten him to the punch that he had been planning to give her. "Don't worry, Tommy, I'll be fine. Now go and have good time and I'll see you on Monday."

"Andie, I probably won't be there on Monday, something has come up down here," Tommy said and Andie then hung up the phone, so she would be able to cry in peace.

"That easy?" Katie asked skeptically and Tommy shook his head no. "Well why in the world did it not take you so long?"

"She did the breaking up," Tommy said and they could hear Kim yelling at her phone. It was not going as easy on her, at all.

"Mike, I am not going to stay in Florida! I have something I have to do here! And yes I am breaking up with you!" Kim yelled and she slammed shut her phone with as much force as she could manage. She wanted to throw the phone, but she could not afford to buy a new one right now. She had just managed to quit her job as well.

"The two of you might want to demorph," Billy suggested, as Kim and Tommy looked down at their clothes and sighed. They had to remember all of these things, as they had forgotten a lot of the formalities because of their absence in the ranger world.

"Thanks," Kim said as she demorphed and Tommy suddenly thought of something he should have mentioned to Kim earlier.

"Well, we've never had a female black ranger before," Tommy said, as Kim swatted at him and he laughed at her.

"Well at least I have not been all the normal Christmas colors, Tommy," Kim retorted and Tommy looked over at her. He knew that she was not thinking of black as a normal Christmas color by any means. She didn't know that he had been the black ranger as well, so he might as well break it to her now.

"You forgot that I have been black," Tommy said while Kim stared at him. He had been the black Power Ranger as well? Why didn't he just take pink and yellow to top it all off?

"Well, I guess I can share that color with you, but pink is all mine, mister," Kim said and Tommy laughed again. That was what they needed to relieve the stress that they always seemed to be under in these odd situations. There was far too much that needed to be done for them to worry about it.

"Listen, we should really ride down to Tommy's and do a thorough assessment of the damage. Kim and Katie were not able to do that because some being showed up," Billy said, as Tommy nodded his head.

He guessed he needed to do that, just because Billy believed there was much more wrong there than they had known. He just didn't want to see the damage to his house at all. He could only imagine the emotional damage it had done to Katie already this afternoon and he was sure it would hit him just as hard.

"Tommy, there's only one thing I know that is missing for sure," Katie said, as Tommy looked at her. What could be missing that would make her look at him like that?

"What is it, Katie?" Tommy asked, as Billy began to press in the teleportation sequence that would send them back to Jason's house, where most of their vehicles were.

"A picture of the original rangers," Katie said as Billy finished the code.

Tommy knew of the picture she must be talking about and he felt his insides jerk, but it was not from the unfamiliarity of teleportation. It was something that he had tried to forget so many times before, whenever the evil had left them alone. He was afraid that they would use that picture, in order to try to destroy those closest to him. They had tried it before and he was sure this evil would try it as well.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I will have the next one out within a week.


	11. What We All See

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers, I do own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, Gahaleigh, and Belstan.

Utter destruction. That was the only phrase that could possibly describe what Tommy could barely see through the blown off entrance door as he drove up to his house. Several things had been burned by the explosion that had taken the door off and he was thankful that Katie and Conner had gotten downstairs. He now knew that he wouldn't have either of them with him if they hadn't. There was really no telling what would have happened to them when that door was blown off its hinges and if they had survived that, he knew that they wouldn't survive the attack that occurred afterwards.

"Damn," Jason muttered as Kim looked over and saw Katie and Tommy carefully looking through the hole, trying to keep their emotions in check. They knew that the damage was going to take a great deal of time and money that they didn't have to fix it, but they were going to have to manage to find both somehow. They just couldn't give up on this place without a fight.

"Katie, what did the thing look like?" Tommy asked and she was at a loss of words.

She hadn't really taken a good look at the thing in her hurry to get the hell out of there. That was the last thing that she was really worried about, if Tommy wanted her to be honest about it.

"Tommy, don't press her. Anything you might find in there is just as likely to be the thing that came after us. I didn't even get a good look and I've been a ranger before I know to try to look. To be honest, I was more worried about being killed than getting a good look at the thing," Kim said as Tommy began walking through the debris, towards the stairs.

"Did they get in my study?" Tommy asked and Katie shook her head no.

She then went and sat down on the couch. She did not want to investigate the house any further than she had earlier. She had seen enough to satisfy her curiosity of the destruction; Tommy could go on looking if he wanted to.

"Katie, do you just want to stay down here?" Conner asked, as he sat down next to her. The living room was not nearly as bad as the other rooms in the house and he really didn't want to see the house. He had heard the destruction and that was enough for him. He had seen this place destroyed once and he didn't really want to see it destroyed again.

"Yeah, you can look around if you want to," Katie said and Conner shook his head no. He was sure he could imagine how bad the rest of the house was and he didn't need to see it for that to be confirmed.

"Look, they'll keep the things from coming back. It's our job," Conner said and Katie rested against him, fully planning to take a nap if she could manage it. She was so emotionally drained right now and she knew they could understand that problem. They had all been there before

"Yeah," Katie said yawning and he smiled, Tommy might try to kill him but Katie needed some rest. He didn't want to think of what could happen if Katie found out everything that had happened before to Tommy's home. She might really have a breakdown and she was pretty damn close right now.

"How did the two of you get up here in the first place?" Tommy asked as the stairway was now blocked by bits of the completely destroyed kitchen table, his desk, and a mattress he was sure came from the guest room.

"There wasn't as much stuff blocking the stairs earlier. They must have really trashed the place after we left," Kim said simply, as she crawled under the desk and then walked over the mattress behind Tommy.

"So you got everything from in here that Katie could find?" Tommy asked, as he saw his hiding places cleared out. It was all what Katie would have checked, but his study was still a question. If they had infiltrated his security system, then they were up shit creek. The beings would know everything about the rangers that they dreamed of finding out.

"Yeah, we couldn't get in your study though. It kept us out," Kim said and Tommy nodded his head. He wished that she would have been able to, but it would have shocked her more than the destruction in that house.

"I expected that. Come on, I'll get you in there," Tommy said as he, Jason, and Kim proceeded towards his study.

The others were seeing what was salvageable but Tommy honestly doubted anything would be and Katie would want to completely change her room. Her memories would haunt her if it continued to look the same and it would have done the same thing to him as a teenager, now he just knew he had to pick up the pieces and keep on going. He was used to having these sorts of situations happen to him.

"Oh my…" Kim said in astonishment as Tommy opened the door in front of her. This room was not a study at all, it held all of his and some of the other rangers things. It also had not been touched, which meant that Tommy had been prepared for another attack, not that any of them were surprised about it.

"Shit," Jason said as he walked in and Tommy smiled at his reaction. He had made this place in order to keep track of the other rangers, but he would be able to explain all of that to them later.

"Well, they didn't get in here. Come on and see if any others have been attacked," Tommy said as he pulled up the computer that Celestria had been nice enough to give him years ago. Kim and Jason began looking around the room to see exactly what he had collected over the years. It was amazing to see something that was so blantantly full of ranger articles and so publicly displayed.

"Why?" Kim asked and Tommy turned around to see her pointing at a pink ranger suit that she thought vaguely resembled hers.

"You never came to get it from the Command Center," Tommy said as Kim now stared at him instead of the pink suit on the wall. That still didn't explain to her why he had it, instead of one of the others. "Someone had to take it, so I did."

"I don't blame you. Just let it be Tommy. I'm not too worried about you being obsessed," Kim said with a broad smile and Tommy smiled as well. When the computer screen finally came on, several split screens showed up, with various rangers on each.

"Well, let's look through the rangers and make sure they're all fine. There is always a chance that they attacked someone else as well," Tommy said and Kim walked up behind him and she looked at the computer screen. She didn't know half of those rangers, but Tommy seemed to take it as his responsibility to watch after all of them.

"You know that you don't have to protect everyone," Kim said while Jason continued to examine everything in the room. He wished that he had had the gumption to do this sort of thing in his own home, but he had never thought that he would be brought back again. He had thought that his life would stay in the shadows and that he would never have to see himself as a ranger again.

"You don't know how many times I have teleported somewhere to protect a fellow ranger," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head. She didn't know how close Tommy would let her get so she choose to still stand behind him. "But you're right, it's not really my responsibility. I just choose to make it my responsibility."

"You are the only person that would do that," Jason said, as he knew that even if he spotted trouble, he was not very likely to teleport there on the spot. Tommy then reached behind him and pulled Kim up next to him.

"Don't ever be afraid of me. I've let it all go a long time ago," Tommy said as Jason looked over and didn't say anything. This seemed to be something that only they needed to talk about and he wished he could turn invisible or something so they would continue to talk for a great deal longer. They needed to be able to talk with each other right now, because they were beginning to rebuild trust, during a very trying time.

"Okay," Kim said as Tommy gave her a hug and then finished scanning through the system. They all seemed to be fine, which calmed him some; at least it was only him that they had attacked, but it still didn't explain why he had been attacked.

"Let's go see what everyone else found around here," Tommy said and he shooed them out of the 'study' without another word. He had no choice but to look at everything else, although it would disturb him some to see his house like this.

"Okay Tommy, the guest room and Katie's room are destroyed. I don't think we will be able to salvage much of anything," Billy said walking up to Tommy in the hall.

"Down here isn't that bad," Zack yelled up the stairs and Aisha nodded her head in agreement. She knew it had changed, but most of the rooms could be saved.

"Except the kitchen," Aisha said and Tommy nodded. He had known it would be destroyed. His house had to let off enough signals and his kitchen really must make sensors go off with the command center underneath it.

"Katie and Conner are asleep by the way," Zack said and Tommy's eyes widened. He had thought that they would not be able to sleep, but he had thought wrong. The two of them were exhausted and dead to the world.

"We'll be down in a couple of minutes. We have to navigate these stairs," Tommy said as they started down the stairs, hoping not to slip and hit every obstacle on the way down.

"Should we wake them up?" Zack asked and Tommy fiercely shook his head no. He knew he might get knocked out, but the others were not going to take that risk. It was his sister.

"Katie, wake up," Tommy said as Kim looked at him. He was being gentle, but Katie still jerked up and swung at him. She seemed to have inherited some of the paranoia that Tommy constantly lived with and several of the older rangers held back laughter.

"Leave me alone," Katie said, as she slumped back against Conner and tried to sleep, but Tommy tickled her this time and she glared at him even more than before. "Tommy, I just want to sleep."

"We have to go back to Angel Grove. This house isn't safe and it won't be safe for several weeks. We have a lot of things to replace Katie and your room has to be redone," Tommy said, pulling Katie up to where they were at eye level with each other. Katie was now dangling several inches off the ground, but Tommy had her full attention. He hated to have to break her out of her good mood so soon, but it had to be done for all of their sakes.

"Not again, Tommy," Katie begged and Tommy changed his vice like grip into a hug. She had been through far too much to be this good of a person and she could not face much more. He had been there and he had done this very thing, he just hoped that he or Conner would be able to pull her back, somehow. "Tommy, I can't do this again."

"Katie, I'm so sorry my life has done this to you," Tommy said while he felt her shaking in his arms. Conner now looked up and saw Tommy holding his sister in a hug. He had the feeling nothing he said would make her feel any better right now, but Tommy was begging him with his eyes to try. He knew that he couldn't do it alone.

"Tommy, why?" Katie managed to say as Tommy just shook his head. That was when he heard the first loud bang coming from the back end of his house and he quickly dropped her to the ground.

"Tommy Oliver, come out, come out, wherever you are," Gahaleigh said as Tommy looked over at Kim who was the closest to the sound of the voice.

"Take her and leave," Tommy said, as he placed Katie in Conner's lap and he stared at Tommy. Why would he tell them to leave the fight, that made not sense to him. "Do what I say Conner. She is not ready for a fight. Take her to Hayley's now."

"Hayley's?" Kim asked looking at Jason and Tommy gave her a look that said he would explain it all later. He didn't have the time to talk about it now.

"Tommy, you like to protect your pretty little lady's, don't you?" Gahaleigh asked as Tommy pushed Conner and Katie out the door, only for them to stumble back inside a few seconds later.

"Conner!" Tommy roared and he merely shook his head no. There was no amount of money that Tommy could pay him to face what was outside that door. The dubons had showed up and they were glowing some weird shade of green and he couldn't even really think of what in the world they looked like.

"Trust me," Conner whispered and Katie merely felt Conner place her on the floor. She couldn't really think about what was happening now, her mind was too full. "Kate, if you see us morph, morph."

"Okay," Katie said and Tommy looked at Conner. Even if he was no longer the red ranger, he still tended to think like one.

"Tommy, that is your name, correct?" Gahaleigh asked, singling him out of the bunch, relatively easily, thanks to the picture held in his hand. "Now, where is Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, and Kimberly?"

"They are not here. Leave them alone," Tommy said threateningly and he looked at Tommy wondering why he was taking such offense to the comments he had made.

"Oh, Mr. Tough Guy," Gahaleigh said as Tommy walked forward and he then slapped Gahaleigh to the ground. It was the first time any of them had seen Tommy be tempted into a fight first, but he had already had so much lost that he surely could not be thinking straight right now.

"Never enter this house again or I promise you will not live to see the sunrise again," Tommy said darkly as Gahaleigh looked up at him from the floor. He had heard the 'code of honor' Power Rangers took, but this one seemed to be going onto another, scarier tangent.

"I was told that Power Rangers do not act first," Gahaleigh said as he started to stand up, but Tommy's glare told him that he was far better off to stay on the ground. He felt he would certainly be slung down again, if he was stupid enough to stand.

"You came into my home. That was your first mistake and you have now returned, twice. Leave this house now," Tommy thundered as he glowed an eerie shade of white. The white was becoming stronger and Tommy knew that he might involuntarily morph if he didn't find a way to control it soon.

"Belstan will not be pleased. He wants to destroy the little Power Rangers," Gahaleigh said, standing up and Tommy slung him through the open wall, where his front door had been. He was madder than he had been in years and very close to losing control.

"Well, tell him we're ready for the fight," Tommy said as he continued to look through the opening, daring him to try to come back inside. He would not want to face what was inside that house now.

"You are a foolish man," Gahaleigh said as Tommy stared him down and he quickly departed with the dubons. Well, he was sure that Belstan would find out about everything that had happened, but meeting the leader of the rangers was extremely important to him, for some reason.

"Conner, take Katie to Hayley's. We'll be there in a little while," Tommy said, as Kim continued to look at him and he finally gave her a feeble answer. "She's a friend Kim."

"Okay, Tommy," Kim said with a smile and Conner nodded that he and Katie would be on their way to Hayley's.

"Now that they're gone, we can really discuss what has happened here," Tommy said, as the older rangers nodded. Katie still needed to be spared some of the intricacies of being a ranger, but they were going to tell her everything as the time became right.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and the dubons are the equivilant of the puddies or the tryadrones and I will give a description of them later on, hopefully.


	12. Newer Issues

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gihaleigh, Belstan, and Katie Oliver.

_Hayley's POV_

Reefside has been extremely quiet over the last few months, ever since the Dino Rangers defeated Mesogogg, but I'm not sure how long it will last. I think it would be quite foolish to think that it would last for much longer, unless Tommy knows something I don't. Let's all face it, Tommy has the worst luck with these damn creatures, and I don't think his sister has a clue that she is living inside a ticking time bomb, just waiting for the next thing to crash down upon it. I don't think that it is something that Tommy wants to expose her to unless he absolutely has to do so.

Well, that was what I was thinking about when Katie and Conner walked into my café, late this afternoon. They both are regular customers here, but it was the first time that they had ever come in together and I doubted that it was because Tommy had finally realized he wanted Katie to date Conner. I just didn't know exactly what had happened to them and it didn't seem that Katie was too keen to talk about anything, to anyone.

"Conner, I can't talk about it," Katie said, as Conner looked at her with a furious glare in his eye and he took in a deep breath. He had been trying as hard as he could to get her to talk about everything that was going on, but she wouldn't say anything to him. She wouldn't say anything to anyone from what he was able to gather, but he had to keep on trying.

"Go sit down and we'll talk," Conner said, as he walked over to the bar and Hayley held up a Sprite and a Mountain Dew. She had learned over the last few months what the two of them usually drank and by the look of things, neither of them was in a really good mood. "Thanks, Hayley. This is going to be fun."

"No problem, I just hope that Tommy knows that she is in a bad mood already. He'll kill you if you caused her to act like that," Hayley said with a smile and Conner returned it after a few seconds, as he turned and walked over towards Katie. If Hayley only knew about what they were really doing, then she would probably be having the same sort of fit as Katie, she had thought it was all over as well.

"I don't know if I can do this. I'm not made of the same stuff as Tommy. He's made it through this and he understands it all, I don't and I'm not sure I want to," Katie said, as he handed her a Mountain Dew and he couldn't help but wonder what the caffeine might do to her right now.

"Nobody expects you to be as good as him right away. We'll get through it Katie, we did last time and we had absolutely no experience in this either," Conner said and she glared over at him.

"There is no 'we' Conner. We are only friends, unless my memory fails me and I don't think that it is at the moment," Katie spat out, as Conner sighed. She was right that there was no 'we' in that way, but that was not the way that he was talking about, for once. He was merely talking about the rangers getting through this sort of thing before, but she hadn't been here to experience that wonderful gift. "You may like me, but you haven't tried very hard to prove it."

"Katie, that is not what I'm talking about right now. I'm talking about being a ranger," Conner said, as Tommy walked in and looked over at the two of them. He knew that Conner might be able to make a lot more progress than he might, but he hadn't seemed to be lucky so far.

"Hey, Hayley," Tommy said, as he settled down on a barstool and she looked at Tommy with an odd sort of stare. There was something going on, she just couldn't figure out exactly what it was right now.

"What's going on Tommy? You call and tell me that Katie is in Angel Grove with you and there is no need to go check up on her, then you show up here today. What's happened?" Hayley asked, as Kim looked between Tommy and Hayley, wondering exactly who this woman was and how they knew each other so well. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself, I'm Hayley, I went to college with Tommy and you are?"

"Kimberly Hart," Kim said as Hayley looked at Tommy, then shrugged her shoulders, as if she always knew that this was going to happen.

"Dumped Andie, didn't you?" Hayley asked, as Tommy shook his head no and Hayley gave him another knowing look. He might as well not lie to her about that bit of information. Jason had told her what Tommy had been saying about Kim, so she was sure that Andie was out of the picture now if Kim was back here with him.

"She beat me to it, Hayley. She doesn't even know that I am in town today and I would like to keep it that way. It probably would be better if she didn't know it and the two of them didn't meet for a little while," Tommy said as Hayley slowly began to piece things together. The pictures that formed in her mind were absolutely horrible, but she could tell by looking at Tommy that that was what happened. He was a ranger again and now she was being brought back into this life as well.

"What attacked you this time?" Hayley asked, as it was only Kim, Conner, and Katie there, besides them.

"I'm not sure, Hayley, but Katie's taking it really rough. I don't know how Conner is going to get her to talk to him about anything, but I'm afraid he'll probably have better luck than me. I don't think that she even wants to talk to me," Tommy said, as he saw the two of them stand then walk over towards them.

"We're going to go take a walk," Conner said, as Katie glared at him again, as he had a death grip on her wrist. Tommy couldn't help but be reminded of Kim, but Katie didn't need to know that she acted that much like Kim when she was mad. "I'm trying, Dr. O."

"I know," Tommy said, as Katie rushed out the door in front of Conner and he let out a sigh. He had patience with her, but he didn't know how much longer that would last. "That girl has been through way too much."

"So have you, Tommy," Kim said pointedly and Hayley nodded her head in agreement. Tommy had been through more than his fair share of heartaches, but he had survived and Katie would find a way to survive it too. "But you survived it and she will, too. She has it in her already, she just doesn't know it yet and it takes something like this to find it out."

"Conner, I just don't want to talk about it, why won't you just drop it?" Katie yelled at him as he looked at a crack in the sidewalk and then looked over at her.

"Because it is going to eat you up inside if you don't talk about it, Katie," Conner said, trying not to get mad. He knew that it would not help her any if he got mad at her.

She had every right to be angry at all of them, but her being angry was getting them absolutely no where. She had been given the powers, she was now a ranger and the faster she got on the same page, the faster they would be able to work as a team. That was what was going to allow them to survive each attack and she was going to have to understand that before it would work on the battlefield.

"Why do you even care if it eats me up inside? I don't have to remind you that I have been through things like this before without anyone there for me to help me get over it," Katie said, with a vengeance that he had rarely seen in her. He was beginning to wonder if they had mixed up the powers and if she should have gotten blue instead of him.

"But not in the ranger world Katie and it's because I've been around you long enough to know that you shut yourself down when things like this happen. That is not coping with the situation, you've got to deal with it head on this time," Conner said, as Katie continued to walk next to him, arms folded, in fuming silence.

"That is how I cope Conner. If you don't like it, you can leave right now. I don't need any pity from you or any one else," Katie said, trying to walk further away from him, but he was having none of that as he put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I'm not going to just leave you here to mope about everything that has happened. You heard what that man had to say, Kate. You can't risk not having someone help you, it could destroy you ," Conner said as Katie looked over at him.

She didn't want to be a Power Ranger, she just wanted her life to go back to the way it was two nights ago, when she knew nothing about her brother being a damn ranger. When the absolute worst she was worrying about was how in the world was Conner going to stay there without the two of them winding up in a whole heap of shit.

"I don't want to do this. I want to go back in time and live this day over and hope that none of it ever happens," Katie said as Conner let out a grunt of frustration.

"Katie, it won't help. You'll just know what is going to happen, try to stop it, and get yourself killed because of it. That will not help anybody with the problem we are facing," Conner said, as Katie looked up at him again and reached out a hand to smack him, as he gently grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "You don't want to do that."

"You don't know how I feel," Katie said, as Conner took a deep breath. He had expected that to come up when he said that, but he had to make her understand. He had had his concerns about being a ranger himself, but it had never been as bad as her concerns, if only he could get it across.

"But I know what it is like to go through it. I didn't want my life to change either. I just wanted to continue playing soccer in the blissful peace and quiet I had always known," Conner said as Katie bowed up against him again, but before she could attack, he kissed her, as it was the only thing that came to mind to stop her from smacking him. "Please, Kate, don't act like this."

"Conner," Katie said, completely forgetting how mad she should be at him at the moment. She had never expected that from him. "Why'd you do that?"

"You said that I didn't prove to you that I liked you. Why won't you let me be here for you? I know you are hurting, but you have to trust me, if you dont trust me then everything we've done is worth nothing," Conner said as Katie still continued to stare at him, wondering what had tempted him to do that.

"Conner," Katie muttered, as she pulled him into an alley and crouched behind a trash can.

"Why am I being dragged into an alley?" Conner asked as Katie pointed to the creature that passed by the alley and he suddenly understood. "What are those things?"

"I don't want to wait to find out and I'll take you up on that offer," Katie said, as she pulled him back towards Hayley's. She knew that they had strength in numbers, but she didn't think that they would be able to make it there completely undetected.

"What are you doing back so quickly?" Tommy asked as Katie and Conner ran into the building and quickly flipped over the sign to where it read closed. They knew it was a feeble attempt, but it might give them a few extra seconds to do something to stop them.

"Hayley, hide," Conner said, completely ignoring Tommy's question, as Katie and Conner tried to close the blinds around the cafe.

"What's going on?" Hayley asked, as Tommy pushed her down under the bar, then the door was blasted off the hinges. The dubons then walked in and Tommy and Kim immediately began to fight.

"Lure them out, if you can," Tommy said, as he threw a table between himself and a dubon and it sliced it in two, rather easily, which caused Tommy's eyes to widened. This was not what he had wanted to see from the enemy. He knew that they were far too strong if they were doing this sort of thing so early.

"Can do," Katie said, as she and Conner sprinted out the door and had half the crew of dubons follow them outside.

"We need to split up, too. It'll make them more confused," Conner said, as Katie then turned and ran in the opposite direction and about half the pack followed her.

"Ugly things, aren't they?" Kim asked, as a dubon sailed past her face and she then drilled it into the wall with a quick kick.

"Yeah, they really are Kim. Did you see where Katie and Conner went?" Tommy asked, as the dubons disappeared from around them and she simply shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't seen them since they started fighting.

"Outside, Tommy," Hayley said, from under the bar, as he merely nodded and headed outside.

"Did they leave you alone, Conner?" Kim asked, as Conner shook his head yes and then they looked down at the other end of the street, where Katie was being surrounded by a number of the dubons and she was not even attempting to fight them off.

"Fight, Katie!" Tommy yelled, in hopes that she would at least kick one of them, but she didn't move, then she rose off the ground. As she did this, a sort of pulse began emitting from her and the dubons were blown off their feet, while Kim, Conner, and Tommy, ducked down, in order to avoid getting hit by the pulse. The dubons, obviously confused, then left them alone, but not before giving Katie a scared look.

"That's funny," Katie said, as the other three ran up.

"What's funny?" Tommy asked, as he had just clearly seen her use her powers unmorphed and that made him more uncomfortable than her being morphed and fighting against these things. What in the world were these powers capable of?

"I didn't mean to do that," Katie said, as they looked at her.

"We know and you're going to have to learn how to control your powers when you are not morphed. We don't want to give away that you are a ranger," Tommy said, as Katie just smiled and then looked around the street.

"Where is everybody?" Katie asked, as they all shrugged their shoulders. Most people scrambled for the nearest building when the monsters began attacking and they were sure that was what had happened this time as well.

"They probably are hiding in some building. Go ahead and head back to Hayley's. I want to take a good look around before I go back," Tommy said, as Katie and Conner nodded, then headed towards Hayley's.

"Hayley is not going to be happy, is she?" Kim asked, as Tommy smiled. That was one reason why he didn't want to go back first, but he hadn't told them that, otherwise they would not have gone back.

"No, she's not," Tommy said, as he walked up to his dojo. He had hoped that this place would have been left alone, but they had torn it to shreds as well. "Shit."

"Tommy, why are you interested in this place?" Kim asked, temporarily forgetting that Tommy now owned a dojo in Reefside.

"That's my dojo. There was nothing there for them to find, but I guess they thought I'd be stupid enough to leave things here that I needed to protect," Tommy said, stepping through the shattered window and looking down at the mats that had been torn to shreds.

"I'm sorry," Kim said, as Tommy sighed, walked to his office, and grabbed the paperwork he would need to begin fixing this place up. His office had been left untouched and he was going to have to find the insurance policy he had on this place, maybe it was in his truck. This was going to be just wonderful to deal with while trying to repair his home as well.

"It's fine, I'm sure that this won't be the last time that something like this happens in my life," Tommy said, as he simply stepped back through the window. "The security camera should have caught who was in here, although I don't think the insurance company will really believe it when I bring it in."

-----------------

"You're what?" Hayley asked, as Katie and Conner tried to calm her down as some people that were tentatively coming out of cars were staring at them. They could see some clear damage, but they did not want too many people to come and investigate what was goign on. "Are you completely sure? I'm not dreaming am I?"

"No, your not, Hayley. That's why you were attacked today. Listen, I know you don't want to be involved but you will be because of Tommy. You don't have to help us this time, but you just need to know what is going on around us," Conner said, as Katie was gazing around the place as well. She'd seen enough damage today to last her a lifetime and she felt as if she was only seeing the beginning all of this. There was something about this that made her sure that they were going to have to deal with much more than they had even percieved in the past.

"Where are you staying?" Hayley asked, as Katie shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know any of Tommy's plans, but she was going to have to go back Angel Grove tonight and they were going to do some extra research tomorrow. Then they were stuck to find some place to live while they replaced everything in their home.

"We're wondering if we can camp out at your house for a little while. Kim's got to find an apartment. Jason is going to have a teleportation grid installed at his house, Billy should whip that up in a couple of days, but it's gonna be a couple of weeks before we can move back in and I don't think teleporting from Angel Grove every day would be acceptable," Tommy said stepping into Hayley's and she was quiet for a few moments. She could remember what had happened the last time that she had opened up her home to Tommy after his had been destroyed.

"Okay, Tommy, but I think you need to see what you've got going so far. I'll help if you need it, but I'm not going to get myself killed for it all," Hayley said, as Kim looked at Hayley and Tommy held in a laugh at the look on her face.

"Hayley, you've done this before?" Kim asked, as Hayley nodded her head yes. "Then you should know the risks of what you are getting yourself into."

"Yes, but last time Tommy didn't deem it important to inform me of those particular risks considering the fact that it was my first time taking a power ranger in," Hayley said, as Tommy kept his mouth shut. He knew they'd fight and he honestly would need Hayley's help once the attacks became regular. It was going to take a miracle to pull all of this off without a hitch.

AN: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think about it, if you want to.


	13. Changing of Tides

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, and Katie Oliver.

"Gahaleigh!" Belstan roared, as Gahaleigh cowered at his feet.

It had taken him no time to figure out that a mere teenager had blasted his forces in all directions, without even a warning or an inclination that she even knew that she was about to do that. They had thought that these people had no powers, but now there was a problem that they had not expected. They had, obviously, been able to find some type of power source and that seemed to be the least of their worries. He knew that these rangers had been around for years and that he was foolish to challenge them once they had completely adjusted to their powers. However, he might just have to do that very thing.

"I am sorry Master, I did not know that they had powers. They were supposed to be unarmed. We only fought as if they were unarmed. If I had known I would have withdrawn sooner," Gahaleigh said and Belstan paced around the cavern he lived in, deciding how contemptuous he was going to be against these rangers. It was obvious to him that that was what they were now, but Power Rangers had always caused him problems, he just hoped he had gotten over that fear.

"Well, now we must find a way to defeat these Power Rangers," Belstan stated, as he waltzed around and Gahaleigh tried to stay as low to the ground as possible. He did not want to chance being hit by anything that Belstan wanted to throw, as it was usually very painful. "They have ruined my plan of taking over the Earth in a quick and easy fashion, but we can change the plan for their little nuisance."

"Master, there are ways to lure the rangers away from the Earth. We can do that just as easily as anything else we might try ," Gahaleigh said, but he knew that they would do that at a great risk to themselves. These rangers seemed to be rangers that would eventually become some of the most feared by evil forces.

"Yes, but have you seen what happens when the Power Rangers are lured away from their home planet? They have mounted defeats of some of the most legendary evils upon their return. We do not want to be defeated, we must figure out how to get them out of the way long enough for us to have a complete take over," Belstan said, as Gahaleigh merely nodded. He knew that Belstan had been playing around with time alterations, but that would probably not be enough. The rangers could conquer that easily. They would need something much stronger than that.

"How?" Gahaleigh asked and Belstan gave him an evil sneer.

"We shall take away what is the most important thing to them, whatever it may be. Then maybe they will be willing to give up," Belstan said, as Billy turned around from the television screen and looked at the others. He had intercepted this message earlier today and he was sure that they would need this to be able to know exactly what was facing them.

"How in the hell do they know what is most important to all of us? They don't even know anything about us," Tommy said, as Katie smacked him on the back of the head for cursing and went back to her normal disposition.

"I'm not sure how they could gather that information, but Celestria did send me all of the information that she had on them. She seems to be worried about us. Her information suggests that they are likely to attack us in ways we have never seen before, but Belstan has been foolish in the past. This is not the first time that he has attempted to conquer a planet," Billy said, as they all were silent, before several of them tried to speak at once.

"They've done this before?" Conner asked, merely not knowing that this was even possible.

"Who's Celestria?" Hayley asked, as she had not heard that name before from Tommy and she figured he would have told her about an alien being that might be able to help them. If not, he was about to catch hell from her.

"What ways will they attack us? We've been through almost everything. I don't know how much more anyone can pull," Kim said, as Billy stared at them, trying to pick out each question. It was becoming a complete blur to him and he only hoped that they would say the questions one at a time when he asked again.

"Hey, only one question at a time, please. I can't really answer much more than that," Billy said, as they all went quiet and he took in a deep breath. "Now what did you have to ask?"

"I didn't think that the monsters came back once they had been destroyed," Conner commented, as Mesogogg was gone for good, from what he could tell.

"He has obviously not been destroyed by any sort of ranger. He has just failed in his mission and moved onto the next planet each time. That almost makes him more dangerous. He is extremely reckless in his attempts and does not have a point in which he starts caring about who he harms. Most things just go after the rangers. He may have decided that going after others is a better avenue to get to you," Billy said, as Conner nodded and Katie shifted her position on the floor to where he was gently rocking her back and forth with his knees. He knew she was tired and about to fall asleep from exhaustion, but Tommy had insisted that she stayed downstairs and listen to everything that was going on. He didn't understand why, because Katie didn't understand half of it right now.

"Tommy, let Katie go upstairs," Kim said, as she had seen the girl's head nod towards her shoulder several times and she could tell Conner was just barely keeping her awake.

"Katie, can you stay awake much longer?" Tommy asked, as Conner caught her as she was about to slump over and go to sleep.

"Does that answer you?" Conner asked, picking Katie up and she curled up in his lap as soon as he put her down.

"I don't want anyone to be alone, it is not safe right now. We have things we have to attend to before we can continue as normally as possible," Tommy said as he looked over at Conner who was glaring at him. "She's my family Conner. I think I know what is best for her."

"Yes and Tommy, she needs some sleep, in a place besides my lap," Conner said, as he was quite furious with Tommy right now. He knew what it was like to be so tired that you could barely hold yourself up, so why was he doing this to Katie? "I know that you need to tell us lots of stuff, but I'm so exhausted that I can barely comprehend anything. I've been here before and these all night meetings rarely do anything but piss us off and confuse us even more."

"Conner, just go," Tommy said as Kim saw that the two of them were likely to be at odds with each other for awhile. She knew that Tommy was ridiculously protective of people he cared about, but this was a little bit much, even for him.

"Katie, wake up," Conner said, shaking her and she merely opened her eyes long enough to roll over on her stomach, then fall back asleep. "How do you do this every morning?"

"You don't want to know the types of fights we get in in order to get her out of bed," Tommy said, stubbornly, as Katie continued to roll around on the couch.

"I can imagine," Conner said as Katie punched him in the stomach and he grimaced. "She doesn't stay still very long, does she?"

"Usually she sleeps like a log," Tommy said, as he shook Katie's foot and she looked over at him.

"I thought that I was going to be able to finally get some sleep," Katie said, as Tommy looked down at her with a smirk on his face.

"Well, if you can walk yourself up the stairs, then we'll let you get some sleep," Tommy said, as Katie stood up and walked up the stairs without a problem.

"Tommy, what exactly will we be doing tomorrow?" Jason asked, as Tommy looked at Billy and Hayley. They were the information experts and they were the ones who had the best idea of what needed to be done.

"Your command center is ready to go. I will just have to teach it to recognize a few more people," Hayley said with a good bit of confidence. They had not been out of it that long and unless Tommy had gone and tried to do something on his own, everything would be fine.

"But I do not have access to my home, tomorrow I'll pull out my truck and start hauling the debris away. We have to clear it out before there is any use in using that command center. There is no use in contacting the insurance company about my home. They'll tell me the same thing that they did last time," Tommy said, as Hayley nodded, while several of the others looked confused.

"They didn't pay for it when this happened before?" Kim asked, as Tommy nodded his head yes. He had come to expect this sort of treatment from them, considering all the problems that he had had in the past. "What type of scum are you insured by?"

"Reefside Insurance, it's the only agency in the town and it is next to my dojo, so they'll have to pay for the damage done to it. It's just nice and convenient for them that their biggest customer is next door," Tommy said, as they all laughed.

They didn't know how he was still cracking jokes when his house was in the condition that it was in, but he was finding a way to cope and that was something they wouldn't have expected years ago. He had seen more than any of them had in the ranger world and he had the feeling that this was just the beginning of something that would lead them into places they had never been and to deal with trials they had never seen.

"We should probably go ahead and hit the hay ourselves. We do have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow, Tommy," Kim suggested as Tommy nodded his head in agreement.

"I know, but I'm worried about sleeping. Katie doesn't have any idea what has happened to us in our dreams before," Tommy said, as Kim smiled and the others merely shook their heads.

"She'll learn all of it, Tommy, trust me, she will, but we first need to let her have a good night's rest before we begin to teach her the ropes," Kim said, as he nodded his head. He had never been so thankful for someone to tell him that he had to get some sleep and it made his life so much easier, it made him feel alive again to know that there was someone there that truly cared for only him.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have the next one out soon.


	14. The Nightmare of Waking Up

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, and Katie Oliver.

Morning dawned early for all of them, as they were being roused out of bed early in the morning, by an irritable leader. Each person did not really appreciate the waking up, but when Tommy got to the last room, he had the unfortunate job of waking up the grumpiest sleeper in the house, Katie. He had hoped that the commotion would arouse her, but that hadn't happened and now he had to go inside her room and face the rude music.

"Katie! Katie, wake up!" Tommy yelled, knocking on the door as hard as he could. Katie then grabbed a book that Jason had conviently left on the nightstand and threw it at the door as Tommy opened it and caught the book with one hand. He had expected some sort of ammunition to come flying at him, but the book was definitely a new touch, usually it was something breakable that would crash into the door before he had managed to open it all the way. "Nice try, come on, get up, Kate."

"Tommy, I'm gonna kill you," Katie said as she looked at the clock and then over at him. She had known it was early, but she had never imagined that he would wake her up at this hour of the morning. She had not thought that he would be this brave. He usually wouldn't have done this, except for the fact that they had so much to do today and not a lot of time to accomplish it all. "It is three o'clock in the morning. Have you lost your damn mind?"

"No one needs to see us heading towards the Command Center. Billy has to salvage some parts from there and then we have a lot of other things we have to do. It is going to be a very long day, Kate. We have to start early in order to get it all done," Tommy said, as Katie stood up and walked across the room. Tommy then noticed the pink sports bra and black shorts she was wearing. He could deal with it, she was his sister, but he was not sure some of the others would deal with it as well.

"Let's go, you got me out of bed, let's go," Katie said, as Tommy cringed. She was pissed at him and ready to fight, but he had to get her in a shirt or he was afraid Conner would go crazy and he couldn't handle both of them being out of their minds.

"Katie, you need to put on…" Tommy said, as Conner walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, absentmindedly. He just wanted to know what they were doing, but he had come up at the wrong time.

"Where's your shirt?" Conner blurted out as Tommy placed his hands over his face and Katie glared over at Tommy. It would not have been this bad if he had only woken her up earlier than Conner, as it took Conner a few minutes to get some sense about him.

"I'm not wearing one. If I have to run around at three o'clock in the morning and be hot and sweaty, I want to be as comfortable as possible and this is much more comfortable than any shirt that I have with me," Katie said, as Conner's eyes widened and he turned around to go find Jason or someone else who was the least bit sane at this time of morning. Katie and Tommy, did not seem to be those people, at all. Although he should have known it by his experience as a ranger, he had just never really been in a mood to think about it when he had been in this situation before.

"Katie, I just don't want Conner to lose the little bit of sense he has around you," Tommy said, calmly, as Katie smiled at him.

"Thanks, I just wanted to make Conner uncomfortable. I need to talk to you," Katie said, as Tommy just shook his head.

"You could have done that in a different way. The poor boy likes you enough without having those types of thoughts run through his head," Tommy said, as Kim walked up behind Tommy and shoved him into the room.

"Tommy, what are you thinking?" Kim asked, as Tommy stared at her and wondered what in the world she was talking about. He hadn't done anything to her this morning that he could think about and considering how things went last night, he was sure that she wouldn't be mad at him.

"Kim, can you fight with him later? I really need to talk to him and then I'll let you have at him," Katie said, as Kim looked at her, then moved to the side. She was not going to have a fight with him, when Katie might be the one that could talk the most sense into Tommy.

"You are mine," Kim muttered as she took a few steps back and Tommy shook. Katie had talked about that before, but Kim struck fear in him that no one else had ever been able to manage.

"Whatever I did, I'm sorry," Tommy said, as Kim closed the door, but did not acknowledge what he said. He did not want to face either woman, but right now Katie seemed to be the easier of the two to face.

"Tommy, I really need to know everything. I was in shock yesterday, but I've had time to calm down from it and I need to know what I am getting myself into. Everyone else is not new to this, I am and I need to know the truth, otherwise things are going to get really ugly," Katie said, as Tommy stared at her. Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent had happened to find that video in his Command Center when they first became rangers. Katie, however, would not have that chance, so he was going to have to do this the hard way and tell her everything face to face. He had hoped to avoid all of this, but there was no way for him to do that right now.

"Okay, but it's not easy for me to talk about it. A lot of things have happened in my past that I don't wish to remember," Tommy said, as Katie nodded and then sat down on the bed. She needed to be comfortable, as this might take him a little while.

"We all have things like that, Tommy. I gotta know, Tommy, before I do anything else, I have to know the truth about being a ranger," Katie said, as he shook his head and then looked at the door. It was always easier to not look someone in the eye at the beginning of the story, where things were really the worst for him.

"I don't know if I'm the best one to tell it, but I'll do my best," Tommy said, as Katie nodded. He had never been really good at explaining things besides science and karate, so she expected this much out of him. She just didn't know that he had almost as much experience in this as well, but he was not asked to give a lesson on this every day of the week. "Okay, well one day there was an attack in Angel Grove by Rita Replusa. She had escaped from her containment area and wanted to conquer earth. On that day, Zordon called the first rangers into action. That was Trini, Jason, Kim, Billy, and Zack."

"You weren't one of the first rangers?" Katie blurted out, as Tommy shook his head no and then sighed. He always hated to have to tell the evil side story, but it must be told. The risks had to be taken into account and considering the chances of Katie becoming evil, she needed to know about it. She was probably the most susceptible of all of them, because she had never seen it and all of them had and they knew just how hard it was to deal with.

"No, I was actually an evil ranger before I came to Zordon's side," Tommy said as Katie stared at him but said nothing. She didn't really know what she could say to a statement like that and she was not going to break him while he seemed to be on a small roll. "Jason broke me out of it, then I lost my green ranger powers, then I became the white ranger. After that Jason, Trini, and Zack left and Aisha, Rocky, and Adam replaced them. Then we lost our powers, went to Phaedos, became the Ninjetti Rangers, and saved the world from Ivan Ooze. Kim left soon after that to train in Florida as a gymnast, Katherine Hillard replaced her on the Ninjetti team. Then we became the Zeo rangers and after that the turbo rangers. I took a decade break, found the dino gems, mentored, then became a Dino ranger and we defeated Mesogogg. During that battle my house was destroyed for the first time and I had to replace it, now we have these idiots after us."

"Tommy, that's the condensed version, isn't it?" Katie asked, as she picked up a t-shirt and slid it on over her bra.

"Yeah, it is, Katie. I'll save the extended version for later, when you are awake and I have more time to really do it justice. It's actually a pretty interesting story and I think someone will probably write a book about it someday," Tommy said, as Katie laughed.

"So, there is a chance I will be like you and work for ten years in this business," Katie said, as Tommy shook his head yes. He didn't like to think about anyone else having the life that he had had, but the truth was always the best. "Go talk to Kim. I'm afraid I've pissed her off enough. I can tell that she's not a morning person either."

"I'll worry about her later, we need to go ahead and head out to the Command Center," Tommy said, as Kim was ready to jump him as he exited the room.

"Tommy, why'd you take so long?" Kim asked, impatiently, as she had had a rough time trying to get to sleep last night and when she finally had, he had came and woken her up. He had left her head spinning and although she loved the way she felt after being able to kiss him and hold him like she had wanted to for so many years, she hadn't been able to sleep well. Tommy was no longer the timid teenager that he had been and she had to wonder about a lot of the things that were to come for them.

"He had to explain the history of the Power Rangers to me," Katie said walking past the two of them and then jogging to catch up with Conner and Jason, who were emerging from a room closer to the stairs. She did not want to stand there any longer, in case she got in the middle of the fight.

"How'd you manage to do that so fast?" Kim asked, now calmer because she knew some of what was going on.

"I told her the most compressed version of the story that I possibly could think of and I left out how many times I became evil and that people lost their powers and got them back and how many times people were captured," Tommy said, as she nodded. That alone would have added another five minutes to Tommy's story of the rangers. "Now, what were you so mad at me about?"

"Having to get up at this hour of the morning. Who are we trying to avoid this time?" Kim asked, as Tommy looked at her. They didn't really know who it was yet, but he didn't want to take his chances on it.

"I don't know, but I don't want to take any chances. Those people seem desperate to find out information about us and I don't know how much time we'll have before they try something again," Tommy said, as they reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the others yawning, barely able to keep themselves awake.

"Tommy, remind me to kill you when I am fully awake," Hayley said, as Jason smiled at her. She was not the only one to think that, but she was the only one brave enough to say it, except maybe Katie, who looked like she had already told Tommy her opinion of it.

"I will, Hayley," Tommy said, good-naturedly. He was used to threats when he did something like this and he had expected it this morning when he had decided to wake them up. "Come on, we need to go ahead and load up before there is any traffic on the road."

"Tommy, we could wait a couple more hours and there would still be no traffic on the roads. Most traffic doesn't pick up until around seven o'clock in the morning," Kim complained loudly as Tommy just looked at her.

"I still have to get back to Reefside today and start on clearing my house. I had to have an early start in order to get that done," Tommy said, as Katie looked over at him.

"Hell no, Tommy. I can't do this today," Katie said, as Tommy looked down at her, almost daring her to say something else.

"Katie, you're going to have to, we all will. I have to get the command center back up and running as soon as possible, we're going to have to have it. The house has to be fixed and I will only have the weekends to do that after this. Today is the most important day for this. If we can get a dent in it, then we'll have far less to do later," Tommy said, as Katie sighed, while the others turned to go outside.

"But why go back so soon? We've almost been attacked the two times that we did go back. Do you think that it is smart to go back again?" Katie asked, as a few of the others nodded that they agreed with her.

"She does have a valid point," Billy said, as Tommy looked over at him. He could not believe that Billy was agreeing with Kaite. "The two of you would be better off to go with the rest of us. I do not imagine that they will try to attack when there are this many rangers in one location."

"They've done it before," Kim said, as Billy nodded his head, but he still did not seem to agree. He seemed to know something that all of them didn't understand.

"Hey, you two, if you want to be able to get up to the Command Center before the two of them are sound asleep again, you better get in the car," Jason said, as Conner and Katie were lounged out in the back seat of Tommy's jeep, already attempting to go back to sleep.

"Come on, Tommy. You were the one that got us up at this horrible hour of the morning," Kim said, jokingly, as she hopped into the passengers seat and he then climbed into the driver's seat.

"Jase, I better follow you, you know how I am with directions," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head and laughed.

"Tommy, we all know how you are and yes, it's fine that you follow me," Jason said and then turned to the others. "If he doesn't then we will all have to worry about him not even showing up."

"I heard that, Jason," Tommy said, as Jason laughed and then piled into his car and pulled out of the drive.

"Looks like the little rangers are going to lead us right to their command center," Belstan said. "And this time, I will be the one to take care of them, not you, you incompetent, imbecile."

"Belstan, those rangers are far better than you will ever believe," Gahaleigh said, as Belstan shook his head for silence. These rangers were being stupid to lead him there, but he knew very little about the rangers of this planet and Gahaleigh was afraid this first battle would not go that well for them.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to have another chapter out by the end of the weekend, but if things come up, then I'm sorry, I'll get it out as soon as I can.


	15. New Battlefield

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, and Katie Oliver.

The sun began to rise as they neared the old Command Center and Kim looked over at Tommy, who was squinting ahead in order to be able to see the road. Katie and Conner were still knocked out in the back seat, while Kim and Tommy merely rode in silence, which was not something they were used to, but nothing they could say seemed right. There were still things they had to talk about, things they had to solve, and they were not sure how long that would take.

"Tommy, you've been really quiet. What's on your mind?" Kim asked, as Tommy nodded his head. He had had a lot of thing to think about over these last few hours and she was one of those things. Sure they had agreed to try again, but when would they do that and would they really be able to change what had happened so that Kim wouldn't have the same fate as Nivine?

"I have too much to think about right now," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head and hoped he would elaborate on the subject. She had seen him like this only a few times before and it never seemed to be the best for any of them when he was in an extremely thoughtful mood.

"Tommy, tell me," Kim said, as Tommy sighed. He had no clue how she knew him so well, other than he probably hadn't changed that much since they had last seen each other.

"Tell you what? Kim, I'm so damn confused that it is not even funny. My life has been turned around again this year and I don't understand it all. I don't understand why it keeps on happening," Tommy said, as Conner opened his eyes and Katie quickly placed her hands over them. They didn't need to figure out that the two of them were awake and listening to the conversation.

"I am confused too, Tommy, but did we do the right thing?" Kim asked, as Tommy's eyes widened. Did she even listen to that tape? He didn't regret a thing that had happened, but if she was having second thoughts, then things were bound to get bad for them, soon.

"We did, at least I hope so. Kim, how long before we can start over?" Tommy asked, as Kim smiled at him and Conner silently gagged in the back seat, while Katie patted his face to let him know that she knew what he was thinking. Conner tended to be immature about any relationship that Dr. O might wind up in, but he felt that he had the right to be in any relationship, which was why Katie had to remind him very subtly of that.

"After last night I wouldn't think that you would have to ask me about that, but since you do Tommy, as soon as you are ready, I'm waiting. I have nothing to lose out here. My life in Florida was going to pieces faster than puddies when we destroy them. I'm glad that I came out here, I couldn't keep on living like that. This trip out here saved me ," Kim said, as they pulled up to the Command Center and Tommy reached back to wake Conner and Katie up.

"We're awake, leave us alone," Conner said, as Tommy had shook him several times and he couldn't feign sleep any longer.

"How long?" Tommy asked, as both of them would be slightly embarrassed if they had been up for the last few minutes.

"Just woke up," Katie said, brightly, as Tommy groaned and then let Conner and Katie out of the back seat. He would have loved to leave them in there, but the two of them would be as mad as he had ever seen them if he kept them in there.

"You are going to get it in class tonight," Tommy said, as Katie just shook her head. If she helped him haul all of the wreckage out of their house, it wouldn't be so bad because he wouldn't have any energy to punish her with.

"If we even have class, Tommy. You should have remembered all the work we have to do today before you said that," Katie said with a smirk and then she jogged out of his reach.

"The two of them make quite a pair," Kim commented as Conner and Katie ran off towards the Command Center to join the others, who were frolicking about now that they were awake.

"Yeah, I guess that the powers knew what they were doing," Tommy said as he sighed. "Once you find a place, then we'll start working on us. Until then, I think we would be foolish to try anything."

"Okay, but let's play with Conner and Katie some," Kim said as Tommy smiled and they walked on up to the Command Center.

"Whoa," Billy said as he looked around and he didn't understand why it was so bright. "The five of you with powers, stay outside, something seems to be amiss."

"Okay," Tommy and Jason mumbled, as they turned right around while Kim and Katie just stared. They had just gotten up there and now they were being told to sit around outside.

"What could be going on that would cause him to send us out here?" Kim asked, as Katie shrugged, she was just as confused as she was about this.

"Billy intercepts things that we don't understand. We still need to listen to him," Jason said, as Kim nodded, but Katie and Conner didn't really understand it. They knew that Billy was smart, but what else had Billy done in the past?

"What do you mean that he intercepts things?" Katie asked, out of curiosity, as she had sat down on a rock and Conner joined her. They had the feeling that this might be a long story. A lot of the ranger stories tended to turn out to be that way.

"He lived on Aquitar for awhile and ever since he came back, he's had a bit of a sixth sense about dangerous situations. We listen to him, because if we don't, then things tend to get out of hand for us," Tommy explained, as Conner nodded and Katie mouthed the word Aquitar over and over.

"It's an alien planet," Jason explained as Katie still continued to mouth the word, hoping that that would explain it further.

"Well, I'm sure that he's been wrong," Conner said, hopefully, as Jason and Tommy shook their heads no.

"Not a single time?" Kim asked, as they shook their heads yes and Katie groaned. She did not like the idea of having to fight this early in the morning.

"So we'll be attacked today," Katie said casually as Tommy and Jason looked at each other and then begrudgingly shook their heads yes. They were certain at least an attack would occur, if not something more serious.

"Smart kiddies," Belstan said, as he appeared and the five of them stood up to see that they had been surrounded by dubons.

"Tommy, you didn't tell me about this in your history lesson this morning," Katie said as the three men stood in front of her and Kim, readying themselves for battle.

"Well, excuse me, I'm not a history teacher," Tommy said, as Jason and Kim smirked. Him telling the history of the Power Rangers was probably the most accurate, but he often forgot the little details that made the story worth listening to.

"Oh, the little ranger doesn't know it all?" Belstan asked, as Tommy and Jason exchanged a glance then nodded. It was time for them to morph.

"Tinnean rangers, power up!" They yelled in unison, as Belstan stood to the side, staring at their transformation.

"Pink Tinnean ranger!" Katie yelled, as she vaulted into the air and her pink uniform appeared. Her helmet had a two-inch band of black around it, which allowed her to see. The uniform itself had a white stripe reaching from her right shoulder to her waist, where it disappeared into her blaster belt. Her skirt continued into a v and had a white lining around the edge. Her boots and gloves were pink with a hint of white trimming around the edges.

"Black Tinnean ranger!" Kim yelled, as she vaulted into the air and her black uniform appeared. Her helmet had a two-inch band of silver around it, which was her version of a visor. The uniform itself had a white stripe, cutting straight down the middle of it, ending in her blaster belt, as well. Her skirt was cut off in a straight line right below her butt, and had an outline of white on the bottom of it. Her boots and gloves were black, although they did have a white stripe running around the edge of the material.

"Blue Tinnean ranger!" Conner yelled, as he vaulted into the air and his blue uniform came into view. A flat visor covered his eyes, as it disappeared into the sides of his helmet. His blue suit had a white line stretching from his right shoulder to his belt, which held a blaster in it.

"Red Tinnean ranger!" Jason yelled, as he vaulted into the air and his red suit appeared. His helmet held a jagged edged visor that seemed to be held in place by a white stripe of paint. His red suit had a white line stretching from his left shoulder down to his belt, which held a pair of daggers in it.

"White Tinnean ranger!" Tommy yelled as he vaulted into the air and his suit appeared. His helmet had a silvery visor that slipped back under the edges of his white helmet. He had a stripe of black going from under his helmet to the top of his belt; he held a blaster in his belt as well.

"Impressive," Belstan commented, as the five rangers looked at their opponent and then headed forward. "But you changing into suits does not change anything."

"Hey, Tommy," Katie said, as he nodded his head that he had heard her. "Do we just stand here the whole time?"

"Nope, I guess that your karate training is going to come in really handy," Tommy said, as Katie fought back a smile under her helmet. She loved hearing that from Tommy, as she knew he had some confidence in her if he could find a way to joke around right now.

"Dubons, attack!" Belstan roared as they exchanged a glance, then dove in different directions in order to disperse their counterparts.

"It is odd how well they can fight," Belstan commented as they threw each dubon away with ease. He was going to have to find something better to attack them with, as no other ranger had ever done this, at all. They had usually stumbled when the dubons attacked them, but these rangers didn't do that. They just easily slipped into the rhythm of the fight, which was unheard of for someone that hd never met his leading fighters before.

"Dang," Katie said as Tommy threw a dubon and she watched it sail by with a great deal of interest. "These powers can do that?"

"This is just the beginning of what these powers can do, Kate," Conner said as Katie sent a dubon sailing past him.

"How long will this take?" Belstan asked, as he watched the fight in front of him continue on. He was not interested in going inside; he had seen the Command Center from his communications tower. The problem was, he didn't know that this was not the only command center in existence.

"Funny little things, aren't they?" Kim said with a laugh as Tommy smiled under his helmet. How she could find it funny while they were fighting, he didn't know, but it surely helped to have some humor.

"Uh," Conner groaned as he was thrown to the ground.

"Uh," Katie groaned as she landed next to him and then looked at the dubon. It was all right when she was thrown around by Tommy, but it was not all right when these things threw her around.

"Katie, calm down!" Tommy yelled, as she shook her head no. She was going to let loose now and see where her powers could take her.

"Little pink ranger has a temper. We might be able to use that to our advantage," Belstan commented as Katie wheeled around, taking care of anything that came near to her.

"Nice one," Tommy said, as Katie had set him up and Kim had another dubon headed his way.

"Holy crap," Jason said as he had thrown his hands down and it had shot him several feet up in the air, above the battle, where his blaster was very effective.

"Katie, put up your shield to finish them off," Tommy said, as Katie quickly did that and the dubons were scattered around in a pile as Belstan stood there, feeling some of the effects of the shield on himself, as Katie and Jason landed back on the ground.

"I wonder if any of us can fly," Kim said, as Belstan approached them and she quickly turned towards him. "Do you want to stay and find out?"

"Stupid Power Rangers, you will not always win, there will come a time when you will lose to me and your Earth will be mine," Belstan said and he and his scattered dubons then disappeared.

"Power down," they all muttered as Tommy and Kim slumped to the ground.

"These powers are not happy with me," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head that she understood exactly how he felt.

"I imagine that your powers reacted like that because of the fact that you are not together. Candite and Nivine's probably acted very similarly while they were apart," Billy said, as Kim and Tommy looked at each other. So much for waiting until Kim had found a place, they couldn't feel like that after every fight they had.

"No way," Conner said looking down at his communicator, which was very similar to his Dino Thunder one, except for the fact it held no color.

"That is also the receptor for your power orb," Billy said, as that seemed to perk all of their interests.

"Where are the orbs?" Katie asked as her communicator looked like a piece of jewelry with its hollow sides and notched pattern.

"Yours and Kim's are rings and theirs are necklaces," Billy said, holding them out and they quickly took it.

"So how did we morph that time?" Kim asked, as Billy smiled.

"Just a little bit of luck," Billy muttered as they smiled. It was great to have Billy working with them again.

"Is this how it always is?" Katie asked and they all nodded.

"Yeah, we rangers enjoy making things on the fly," Billy said as Tommy laughed.

"No, you enjoy that Billy, the rest of us prefer to try to have normal life," Jason said, as even now Billy was constantly tinkering with one thing or another and he was still in constant contact with Aquitar, which made them wonder why he ever left. Although he did, suspiciously, begin dating Kat as soon as he came back, which could explain the reason pretty well.

"Old habits die hard and I've got everything we need. Who's ready to head to Reefside?" Billy asked, as Katie glared over at Tommy. She still did not want to go through with this idea.

"It's now eight o'clock, we get to go through rush hour traffic," Katie said, as Tommy shrugged. He had been expecting this at sometime this weekend. He had just hoped that there would be some way to avoid it all. "We're going to have some breakfast, now that we are finally able to."

"Fine," Tommy said as they all started heading towards different cars.

"Hey! Did you hear that Kim and Tommy are back together?" Katie asked, as Tommy chased her into Jason's care and she quickly locked the door and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay, well, we'll see how many times you get to go out on the weekends," Tommy said, as Katie shrugged.

"What weekends? We'll probably be fighting monsters and he'll be at our house. I'm happy with that, I don't have to go anywhere and I still get to see him," Katie said, as Conner smiled and they couldn't help but laugh. Tommy was not thinking of a logical punishment for her at all.

"Thank goodness I don't have a love connection with my powers," Jason said, as Katie sighed.

"We can come up with something," Tommy threatened as Katie nodded her head in agreement. She had always thought that Jason had had a thing for Hayley, but was never willing to admit it. Maybe they could get something thrown in there about him have to date someone on the support staff, somehow.

"The two of you are evil," Jason joked as Katie looked at him then started crawling towards the front of the car with a dazed expression on her face. "Cut it out."

"You shouldn't have said that I was evil. I've never been evil before. He's the evil one," Katie said with a smile.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the jokester here," Conner interjected as Katie just looked at him.

"Well maybe you should be wearing pink instead of me," Katie said, as Conner's eyes widened. He could never imagine himself in a pink suit.

"Are you kidding?" Kim asked, as Conner shook his head yes, he did know that much about Katie's sense of humor.

"Besides you look good in the color," Conner said as Jason started shaking his head behind the steering wheel.

"Are we ever going to get out of here?" Zack asked, impatiently, as Tommy slumped against the side of his jeep. Katie had been really finicky about who she rode with since their parent's death, but she might trust Jason enough to ride with him.

"Katie, you okay with riding with Jason?" Tommy asked, as Katie took in a deep breath and looked around the inside of the car. Jason was the first one to arrive at the hospital because of the extra hour drive it took Tommy, but she still didn't trust him. She'd never seen him drive before today.

"I'll ride with you," Katie said, as Tommy gave Jason and apologetic look and headed towards the driver's seat.

"Why'd you do that?" Kim asked, as Katie had seemed perfectly fine to her.

"I'll tell you why later," Tommy whispered as Katie hopped in the back seat next to Conner and Jason then cranked up his car, to lead the way out, knowing that there was an afternoon in Reefside ahead.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. I'm done with my little break and I'm going to hopefully start kicking out a few chapters a week with this story, but give me a little bit of time to get up to speed.


	16. Picking Up the Pieces

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, and Katie Oliver.

Although a day had passed, the damage still struck them hard because of its mere magnitude. None of them could believe that this had been two of their owns "home" only two nights before, but many of them were used to this sort of thing happening. For Katie, it just happened to be a very rude introduction into the ranger world, an introduction that most rangers got to skip.

"Okay, we have to clear out the downstairs first. We'll build a huge bonfire with the wooden things and the other stuff will have to be hauled out to some dump in town whenever I get the chance," Tommy said, as they all collected at the doorway, gazing around at the rooms, trying to decide where they should begin and what they might be keeping. "Anything that you think might be salvageable, leave in its place."

"Also, don't throw anything out that looks personal," Katie said, as Tommy looked down at her.

In less than a year she had lost her parents and had now had, her home destroyed by some psychotic evildoers. He felt sorry for her, but he had had the same year, although he had been a ranger before and he knew the signs of a purely evil attack. The first incident was an accident, this act, however, had been planned out against them and it was only meant for them to receive.

"Don't worry, Katie," Conner said as he walked in and began picking up the pieces of a shattered desk. "We got it."

"Tommy, tell me what you were talking about earlier," Kim murmured as they walked to the far corner of the first floor.

"Well, ever since the accident, Katie's been pretty wary of who she rides with. The first time she got in a car with me, she had a panic attack. I didn't want for that to happen to her again, it really shakes her when it does happen and I don't know how much more she can take right now," Tommy said, as Kim nodded, but she still didn't fully understand why Katie wouldn't trust Jason.

"But Jason has always been a safe driver," Kim said, as Tommy agreed, but that didn't matter in Katie's mind how safe they were. It had to do with many other things now.

"So were my parents, she just has a thing against anyone she hasn't ridden with before," Tommy said, as he thought for a second. "Well, except Conner, but don't ask me why she was fine yesterday when she rode with him. I don't really have a clue about that."

"That's like my doing gymnastics with you there. I always felt safer, she might feel safer with him. There is no explanation for the link between people some times, it's either there or it's not," Kim said, as the two of them picked up a large board and started walking through the house over everything else that had been destroyed.

"It's nice to know that," Tommy said, as they passed Katie and Conner who were tugging a picture between the two of them. "Let her keep it."

"But it's ruined," Conner interjected as Katie tugged the picture away and stalked off to put it in Tommy's car. She knew that she had won the battle when Tommy told Conner to let her keep it.

"It's my family," Katie said, hotly, as Conner stood there with wide eyes. He could not believe he had not realized that when he looked at the picture, but he had never seen any pictures of them together before just then.

"Conner, I think you might want to stay out of her way for a little while, especially when she starts going through her room. She seems to be really emotional today and let's face it, some times you don't know when to shut up," Tommy said, patting his shoulder and then walking out the door. He hoped that the teenage boy would heed his warning and let Katie have her own temper tantrums. He did not want to see what would happen if Conner got in her way right now.

"Okay," Conner muttered shaking his head and holding up a broken frame. "I can throw this away, right?"

"Yes," Jason said as he held in a laugh.

"Just making sure. I don't want her yelling at me again. It's not exactly fun," Conner said as Hayley and Jason laughed.

"Poor guy," Jason said as Katie walked back in a continued past Conner without another word.

"She'll get over it. Her and Conner have been friends for awhile and they fight about things all the time," Hayley said as Jason just shrugged. "Speaking of friends, why haven't I heard from you lately?"

"I've been busy with my dojo lately. I meant to call you last week, but things kept on happening. Then all hell broke loose Friday night when all of this happened. Sorry about that Hayley," Jason said, as Hayley gave him a stern gaze.

"All right, but we've got to work on something for Labor Day. I have the feeling Tommy is going to need it after this house is fixed and all of the mess is straightened out," Hayley said as she chunked some wood into the growing former furniture pile.

"Get him to come down to Angel Grove, we'll throw something together," Jason said, as Hayley shook her head no.

"I doubt that we're going to get him out of the house for the next few months except to go to school and the dojo and even that might be a stretch," Hayley said, as Jason sighed. Well that seemed to be it for Tommy's social life for awhile.

"That's great," Jason said, as they heard a crash and a yelp. "What was that?"

"I'm all right!" Aisha yelled, as she crawled out from under the desk that had collapsed on top of her, while Jason and Zack started laughing. "Oh, ha ha, this is very funny I suppose?"

"Yes it is, we should have warning signs for you, the rest of us wouldn't have gone under that half collapsed desk to try to get anything," Zack said, as Billy looked down the stairs and then threw down a mattress for Tommy to chunk in his truck.

"How'd you get up there?" Jason asked, as he had had to maneuver around who knows how much crap and then he had moved all of the crap around and back upstairs, if it could be saved.

"With patience and perseverance," Billy said as Jason just shook his head. None of the others would have gone up there to do that, because they might mess with personal things, but Billy wouldn't even touch anything that was remotely personal.

"Sure," Jason said, as Billy chunked down another mattress and Tommy picked it up to haul it outside.

"Conner, can you help me with my room?" Katie asked, as Conner looked over at her and nodded his head yes. She wanted him to and he knew it might not be a good idea, but saying no was much worse for him than saying yes.

"I will," Conner said as Tommy looked at the two of them and Kim held him in place.

"They'll be fine, Katie's gotta heal from this in her own way and she may need him in order for her to be able to do that," Kim said, as Tommy shrugged. He honestly didn't know if he believed that one, even if it did sound like Kim was speaking from experience.

"They're teenagers," Tommy said as Kim laughed.

"Yeah, we were teenagers too, Tommy and we didn't do anything, trust me that the two of them won't do a single thing. That is probably the furthest from their mind right now,, considering everything else that is going on ," Kim said, as Tommy just looked at her.

He trusted Katie, but he didn't trust Conner because he was a teenage boy. He knew that if the conditions had been right in high school, then things would have probably been different between him and Kim. However, the conditions had never been right and being a ranger had always sat in the back of his mind. He could only imagine what Zordon would have said to him if he had gotten their pink ranger pregnant.

"They destroyed it," Katie mumbled, as she walked in with a trash bag and a box. Feathers were scattered everywhere imaginable and many papers were ripped to shreds, but hopefully nothing too valuable had been destroyed.

"I know," Conner said, as he stared piling the feathers into the trash bag. He was not going to dare touch anything that might be even partially personal, he knew better than that now.

"I miss them," Katie said, as Conner stared at her. He was not prepared for this sort of emotional outpouring, but that seemed like what was ahead of him.

"What happened?" Conner asked. He knew about the wreck, but Tommy had never described it and he had been afraid to ask Katie, until now.

"I don't remember much, we were coming home from dinner and the last thing I remember is being stopped at a red light. I woke up in the hospital a couple of hours later with Jason there and Tommy standing out in the hall. All I had was a mild concussion and the other driver had some scratches, that's it," Katie said, sounding bitter. She had watched the man be convicted of vehicular homicide, but it still didn't seem like it was enough. "When Tommy came in and told me, I didn't believe him, but when I tried to prove him wrong, I just lost it. I knew it had to be true, those were some of the worst bruises that I have ever given Tommy, but we both were in mourning. It was worse for him. He'd lived with them all his life and I had only been formally adopted two months before, but now we had no choice but to live together. I miss them because they understood me and Tommy doesn't, on a lot of things, but he is learning and that is an improvement."

"He's getting better though, Katie. You know that he would have yelled at you two months ago for asking me up here," Conner said as Katie laughed.

"I think that is Kim being here, not Tommy. She seems to understand me better than a lot people do when they first meet me," Katie said as Conner nodded.

He had noticed the same thing about the black ranger, but he was not sure what that meant for them, because being a good judge of character, often times, did not help the rangers when they were fighting evil forces. They were all evil and that was where the likenesses ended.

"You know that the two of them will be together by the end of the month, right?" Conner said, as Katie nodded her head. Kim and Tommy getting back together seemed to be inevitable in her mind.

"Oh, I know, but the question is how long will it take before Tommy gets up the courage to ask her to marry him," Katie said, as Conner's jaw dropped.

"I think it is a little bit soon for them to be talking about marriage. They haven't been around each other in ten years," Conner said, as Katie handed him pieces of her desk to throw over the banister.

"I don't know about that. You know that Tommy was going to ask Andie to marry him before our parents car crash," Katie said, as Conner stared at her. He had not been able to fathom Tommy marrying Andie, no matter how nice she was, but Tommy must have thought that he truly loved her at one time.

"What made him change his mind?" Conner asked, a Katie took in a deep breath. She had a theory, but she was not sure that Conner would accept it. She knew that Jason and most of the others Tommy's age would, but Conner might not understand some of the intricacies.

"I think that he realized that he would just be settling for the best he could find to replace Kim and that was not good enough for him anymore. Life is too short to settle for happiness with someone that you like, not truly love. He liked Andie; he may have even loved her at one time. But he knew it was not the same as it was between him and Kim and Tommy knew that if he married her and he ever saw Kim again, then he'd regret it, but that's just my theory," Katie said, as Conner just shook his head. Katie had taken a lot more time than he would to think about all of that.

"Why'd you take all the time to figure that out?" Conner asked as Katie looked at him and then made him go sit down on the bed, which had not been completely destroyed.

"Tommy was not happy, so I started doing my research and the only thing I came up with was Kim. That's when it all seemed to click. It all made sense that he would have committment issues if he was not over another woman," Katie said as Tommy opened the door and saw the two of them sitting on the bed.

"Tommy, why won't you trust me on this?" Kim asked, stalking up behind him with a metal bar in her hands.

"They are sitting on the bed together," Tommy muttered as Conner leapt up and walked over to the other side of the room, as he sensed that Tommy would throw him off the bed if he did not remove himself.

"Yes and me and you did the same thing when we were their age. I don't think they'll have sex on that bed while all of us are here," Kim said, as Katie's face flushed scarlet, while Tommy and Conner just stared at Kim.

"Kim," Tommy said, as Katie's blush started to recede and Conner began breathing again. Tommy no longer looked as if he was going to knock him out, but he still thought that he needed to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Tommy, you have to trust them. They are our teammates and you can't tell me that our teammates didn't trust us when we were teenagers. You know how hard that must have been some times, considering what they must have thought we did," Kim said, as Jason peeked his head inside to see what the sudden silence was about.

"We trusted you, but you scared us to death some times," Jason said with a smile as Kim glared at him. She was trying to convince Tommy that Katie and Conner would hold their own ground, but Jason was not helping her any.

"Then I have a right to be worried," Tommy said, as Jason cracked under Kim's solid glare and he looked over at Tommy.

"They are not the two of you, either," Jason said, as Kim smiled and it was now Tommy's turn to glare. "Hey you two don't need to fight. Plus, they are old enough to take care of themselves. If they choose to go down that path, there is nothing that we can do about it."

"Thank you," Katie said as Jason smiled and then walked out in the hall to join Hayley, who was already laughing.

"Alright, I guess we are going to go work on my room," Tommy said, as Katie raised her eyebrows.

"Your room? And here you are worried about me doing something," Katie said as Kim shook her head and walked out while Tommy stared at her for a moment.

"You…you've got to…I'll talk to you later," Tommy said, as Kim dragged him out of the room and smiled up at him. "Do you really want the two of them to talk about us?"

"I didn't think that you would care about that. You surely didn't when your parents asked you about it all those years ago," Kim said, as Tommy became sullen.

"That's because we hadn't done anything," Tommy said, as Kim smiled.

"Neither have they, trust me, you'll know when and if they do. Think about how we all figured it out when Jason and Trini did," Kim said as she grabbed a garbage bag and started picking up things that didn't look very important.

"Kim, Katie needs a lot more than I did back then. I know that I was insecure at times, but she's worse. She's been through much more in a much shorter period of time. I just don't feel good about this," Tommy said as Kim put down her garbage bag and walked over to give him a hug.

"Tommy, don't worry yourself sick about her. She loves you too much to just let you think she's absolutely miserable," Kim said, as Tommy nodded.

"I just worry, she's been through so much so quickly and I just know that she will breakdown soon and I don't know if she'll be able to pick up the pieces again," Tommy said as he picked up an old journal of his and flipped through it. If they had picked that up, they would have known more about him than any picture could tell, but he was lucky that they didn't seem to keen on reading anything.

"Well, we will take care of that. You did have your moments yourself and we handled those all right. I'm sure that she'll make it through this," Kim said as Tommy sighed. Yeah he had had his moments, but Katie's were much worse than his own were. He just hoped that she would make it, after all, it was only the beginning of their journey as rangers together.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and feel free to review, the good and the bad.


	17. Opening the Command Center

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, and Katie Oliver.

Dawn rose exceptionally bright on Tuesday morning, as Hayley's home awoke with a start. Hayley, who was used to getting along on her own accord, now got to see what it was like to have people in your house that had to be at work no later than 7:45 every morning and were perpetually late.

"Tommy! Wake up! We're already late to school!" Katie yelled as Tommy jumped up from the couch and then fell over as the sheets wrapped themselves around his ankles.

"Great," Tommy muttered as he ran off and surprised Hayley, who had been sound asleep, by jumping over her bed and into the bathroom to take a quick shower. She had seen him be in a panic before, but it had never been like this before.

"It's only…" Hayley said, as Katie violently shook her head to silence her. Tommy was notoriously late and Katie doubted that Andie would even think of vouching for him this time. This last weekend had stopped any of that between the two of them, forever she feared and although she knew her brother was going to need it over the next few weeks, Andie was not going to care about that. He had hurt her pretty bad and she was sure that that was going to have some sort of consequence. "What will he do when he figures out what time it really is?"

"Yell at me, but we'll get to school on time, for once and that is what is important," Katie said. They heard the water shut off and Tommy ran out of the bathroom in a fuzzy pink towel, barely hanging onto his waist, which caused Katie to cover her eyes and look away. "Pants, Tommy, pants. How many times do I have to remind you about that?"

"Oh be quiet. I'm getting dressed as quick as I can considering the circumstances," Tommy said jogging into the living room and throwing on some underwear and pants. He knew that Hayley and Katie were not the most patient people in the world and he was not risking either walking in there while he was changing.

"He's going to kill you," Hayley said, as Katie smiled and couldn't help but laugh some.

"No, he won't because he'll do this to me tomorrow morning just to get back at me for waking him up like this," Katie said, as Tommy fell over while trying to put on his socks and Hayley couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. Tommy had never been extremely clumsy, but he sure seemed to make up for it at 7:00 in the morning.

"You wouldn't be laughing if you were…Katie!" Tommy roared, as she ran past him and headed towards the door and had actually grabbed the handle before he caught up with her.

"Tommy, you can't be late today. Andie won't cover for you anymore and we both know how many times that saved you from getting chewed out. You just need to try to have a good day for once," Katie said as Tommy took in several deep breaths then walked over to pull on a white polo shirt. He did have to admit that she had a point about all of it, this time. He just did not appreciate being woken up at this time of morning without some sort of warning.

"If you weren't my sister," Tommy said, threateningly, as Hayley hid a smile. She had known that Tommy was not a good morning person, but this was bordering on ridiculous.

"Tommy, if I was not your sister, I would have left you on the couch and not worried about waking you up. I'm doing you a favor, right now. You'll see that later on," Katie said picking up an apple and taking a bite as Tommy shook his head.

"Yeah, the real favor will be if we both manage to get there on time," Tommy said as Hayley looked at the two of them in dressed in their new colors and shook her head. It was going to be a crazy day at Reefside High.

--------------------------------

­­­­­­­­­­­­­Ring, the bell sounded as Tommy and Katie pulled into their respective parking spots, jumped out of their cars, and ran for the building. They had managed to leave on time, but they were somehow still late, they just didn't have good luck with things like that.

"How'd we still manage to be late?" Katie asked as Tommy threw open the door and saw the hallway was already clearing. Katie was going to have to sprint for it, in hopes of getting to class on time.

"Don't know, you head on to class and I'll cover for you if you're late. There is no chance in me saving my own ass at this point. Have a good day," Tommy said, as Katie ran ahead and then turned down the hall to go to her class.

"Katie, what's going on?" Angelina asked as she slumped into her seat and the tardy bell rang as she let out a long sigh. Tommy wouldn't have to save her today; it seemed he was going to have to save himself this time.

"We were late," Katie said, as Angelina shook her head. She had figured that much out on her own by the fact that Katie had pratically sprinted into the room.

"That's not what I meant, I could figure out that much on my own. The pink. I know you like the color, but that's all I've seen you in the last couple of times I've seen you," Angelina said, as Katie shrugged. She couldn't really explain that now her whole closet consisted of what she wore before she was a ranger and what she wore now that she was a ranger.

"All I could find this morning," Katie lied, as she tucked her feet under her chair and prepared for the announcements to be made.

"Thomas Oliver!" Principal Wingard yelled as Tommy had his hand on the office door to leave. It was going to be all right. He had been yelled at for being late before, just not under the circumstances that he was facing right now.

"Yes sir," Tommy said, letting go of the handle and turning to face him.

"Why are you late?" Principal Wingard asked, as Tommy knew that the truth was the best option, although he did have a plausible lie that he could use always on stand-by. It was part of the nature of being a ranger for around a decade.

"My house and my dojo were both broken into this weekend and I'm staying at a friends and I didn't realize it would take me this long to get to school this morning," Tommy said, as Andie walked in, then turned around and walked back out, not ready to face him yet. Yes, she might have broken up with him, but it was still painful to have to see him.

"Sorry about that, I'll let you slide this time, but not anymore Dr. Oliver," Principal Wingard said as Tommy turned to go out the door and bumped into Andie, who was still standing on the other side.

"Hey, Andie," Tommy said with a smile as she nodded at him and then went into the office. She didn't want to talk to him at all this morning.

"Fun," fellow teacher, Anderson Marks, said as Tommy shook his head.

"It's not that bad," Tommy said as he put his bag on his shoulder and started towards his room, which happened to be in another building. He knew that he was already five minutes late and he was sure that the teacher across the hall had let them in, but he didn't want to leave them in his room unattended any longer than absolutely necessary. This class was known for destroying rooms and he really did not want to have to do any major cleaning at school this afternoon.

"It is for Andie. You need to tell her the truth, so she won't feel like this forever. There are some of us that would like a chance at her without her being too emotionally scarred," Anderson said, as Tommy looked at him. He couldn't really tell her the whole truth, but he didn't see why the truth would matter if she, technically, broke up with him.

"She broke up with me, not the other way around," Tommy said as Anderson looked at him and then shook his head. He thought it was the other way around by the way that Andie was acting, but different people showed their grief in different ways.

"Have a good day," Anderson said as Tommy walked off.

"Tommy, call me as soon as you get the chance. It's important," Kim's voice boomed over his speaker and he sighed.

He knew that important for her might be nothing, but he didn't want to take the chance that she was being attacked in the middle of Reefside or whatever town she happened to be in today. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if that was what had been going on when she called, although he did think that she would have the sense to use her communicator.

"Hey, Kim," Tommy said as he heard the phone pick up and he hoped it was not too bad on her end.

"Hey, sorry to call you at school, but I wanted to tell you the good news," Kim said as Tommy laughed.

"Good, I thought that you had been attacked or something for a second there," Tommy said while Kim smiled. "Well, what's the news?"

"I found a place," Kim said as she heard the phone clatter on the ground and was sure Tommy was swearing at it.

"How did you do that?" Tommy asked, after he had sworn rather loudly and picked up the phone. It had taken him a month or so to find a place that he could buy and he paid an arm and a leg for it.

"Well, it's this nice little building next to your dojo. It's been for sale for ages and it has a flat upstairs where I can live and I can use the downstairs as a gym. It's just going to take some time and a good bit of work," Kim said as Tommy still stared at the phone in disbelief. "You still there?"

"Yeah, just in shock. How much is that going to cost you?" Tommy asked, knowing Kim might allow him into this business; then again, she might think it far too personal to tell.

"The payments will be less than my current rent and I still have to collect a couple of paychecks from my old boss. I'll be able to get some work soon and that'll help with the payments, a lot," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head, although she couldn't see that.

"There has to be some sort of catch to this that you are not telling me about. This all seems way too easy," Tommy said, as Kim knew it was time to tell him the bad part of this deal.

"Well there is one thing, I'm gonna have to teach some classes in the dojo until I can afford the equipment for the place. I can make payments, but buying the equiptment would be too big of a loan for me to take out under the circumstances," Kim said as someone tapped on Tommy's shoulder and he looked around to see Katie standing there. She could wait for a few seconds before he had to get off the phone.

"Well, right now that'll have to be the gym at school, but that'll be fine. We'll just have to work our schedules out, but it shouldn't be too hard. You think there is a market for it here?" Tommy asked holding up a hand to Katie to stop her from continuing to tap him on his shoulder.

"There is, I'm sure there are plenty of little girls that want to learn gymnastics and maybe some older ones if I'm lucky. I'll have to pass some flyers out to get it started, but word will spread fast. I do have a little reputation for gymnastics," Kim said and Tommy looked at his watch. He was going to have to let her off the phone or he wouldn't make it to class on time.

"I have to go, lunch is almost over. I'll talk to you this afternoon, if you can meet me at my house," Tommy said as Katie started tapping her foot on the concrete.

"I'll bring Jason," Kim said. "Bye."

"Bye," Tommy muttered as he closed his phone and looked over at Katie. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I have this weird feeling about all of this," Katie said as Tommy saw her eyes flash pink then return to normal. He really needed to get Billy and Hayley to research these powers some more, as some odd things were happening with them.

"What type of feeling?" Tommy asked, guiding her back inside, as rain began to fall around them. "This is all we need, for rain to get into our house as well."

"This isn't it though Tommy. He's plotting something against us. Some sort of monster to help the dubons. I just can't tell what it is yet," Katie whispered as Tommy nodded his head. There was not much that he could do, but Katie had to learn to push it out of her mind.

"It'll be fine, we're used to it. It happens every time one of these things shows up," Tommy said, as Katie shook her head no. This felt as if it was very important and she must point it out to him. "Kate, go to class. I'm sure nothing will happen until this afternoon, at the soonest."

"Okay Tommy, but I think you're wrong," Katie said as she walked off and Tommy shook his head. Her powers seemed to be more sensitive than his and he did not envy that at all. He had had his fair share of sensitive powers and he did not appreciate them at all.

-----------------

"Bye Katie! I'll see you tomorrow!" Angelina yelled as she ran off toward her car.

"You still got that feeling?" Tommy asked as Katie looked at him and shook her head yes. "We're heading to the house to get the Command Center up and running today. Then we'll go buy furniture this weekend; we don't have much of a choice. I don't think that we can impose on Hayley much longer."

"Yeah, what did Kim have to say? You seemed pretty excited about that call," Katie said, as Tommy wished that she was not so perceptive sometimes.

"She found a place in Reefside, already and it happens to be next to my dojo," Tommy said as Katie smirked at him. "What's that look for?"

"Now when you say that your class went 'over', it's going to have a whole new meaning," Katie said, as Tommy glared at her.

"Watch it, Katie," Tommy said as she smiled and then went to her car. "Meet me there. I have to go pick up some things."

"Okay, are the others coming?" Katie asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"I think Kim and Jason will be there, but Conner probably has class and we don't need for him to start acting suspiciously. His college coach will be bound to notice it when he starts missing practices," Tommy said, as Katie nodded her head, then headed towards home.

"Whew," Katie said as she entered the house and there was a stench coming from deeper within. "What happened in here?"

"Funny you should ask," Gahaleigh said, as Katie jumped around and looked at him. Where had he come from? "You see, we need some help finding the entrance to the command center. We've searched for the last few days and found nothing, but you can help us."

"Wrong person to talk to about that. I don't know much of anything about being a ranger," Katie said as she pushed her orb into her communicator and morphed.

"You know enough," Gahaleigh said as Katie ducked down and went back outside. "Little pink ranger, don't play hide and seek with me. I will find you."

"Damn, where's Tommy when I need him?" Katie asked as Tommy dropped in out of thin air and yelped, from shock.

"What did you say?" Tommy asked looking down at Katie and she saw the shock on his face.

"No time, Gahaleigh's here," Katie said as Tommy looked around and saw the shadow slinking around in the far corner of the room.

"You are crazy," Tommy whispered and then morphed. "Look get outside, he'll follow us. We don't need a battle inside this house. It looks like it's been through enough already."

"Well, tell me if we need any back up," Katie said as she turned to leave and walked outside to face the dubons. "Send me to do the hard work. You get to play with the idiot that won't even touch you."

"Hello, Mr. Oliver. You were the one I was expecting to see here, but Katie arrived first. That, however, is inconsequential, I'm sure that I will find something that will work well with her, too," Gahaleigh said and Tommy then moved further into the light.

"I'm afraid you have very little that will work for you here. I can have every ranger known to man here within seconds," Tommy threatened as Gahaleigh gave a mirthless laugh.

"You really think that is scary? Power Rangers are not what I fear most," Gahaleigh said as Tommy heard Katie yelp outside.

"You seemed to fear us two days ago. Why should that have changed?" Tommy asked.

"Tommy, I could use some help out here!" Katie yelled as Tommy turned and looked out the door.

"Cheater," Tommy muttered as he ran off to help Katie.

"Thank you," Katie said.

"It's not a problem, but we'll have to work hard to get out of this," Tommy said as Katie laughed under her helmet.

"I think that working hard is an understatement here. Let's get this done," Katie said as Tommy threw a dubon and she ducked. "Hey, watch where you throw those things!"

"Kim, are there flashes of light up there?" Jason asked as they could see Tommy's house, but flashes of light were emitting from everywhere around it. "Or is it just my imagination playing a bad trick on me?"

"If it is, we're both having the same hallucination, which is scary," Kim said as she parked the car and got out.

"Why stop here?" Jason asked as Kim looked at him.

"I don't want my car destroyed by these things. It's actually paid off, unlike some things that I now own," Kim said, stepping out of the car and running off towards the battle.

"Girls," Jason muttered shaking his head as he followed Kim up the path at full speed.

"More rangers, that's good," Gahaleigh said as Tommy looked over his shoulder and saw Kim and Jason and smiled, although he was sweating profusely.

"Thought you could use some help," Kim said, as she looked at Tommy and shook her head. She could not understand why in the world he had to be fighting five of those things at once. "Tinnean ranger, black, power up!"

"I knew there was something I needed help with today," Tommy said as Kim laughed out loud.

"You worry me, Tommy," Kim said, as she tossed a dubon over to Jason and he kicked it into one of the walls of the house.

"I know, but what else keeps you around?" Tommy asked, as the dubons suddenly disappeared and they all looked over at Kim.

"The fire's really nice," Kim said with a smile as Tommy stomped out the fire at his feet.

"Glad you didn't burn down the house," Tommy said, as he powered down and the others followed his lead.

"It's a gift and I aim good," Kim said, as Tommy just shook his head and went inside. "What's that smell? Tommy, the power didn't get disconnected somehow, did it?"

"I don't know," Tommy said, as they walked towards the smell and saw a blob of thick slime on the floor.

"How do we get rid of it?" Katie asked as Kim walked out of the room, gagging.

"I don't know. I think that we would be better off leaving it alone until Billy or Hayley can look at it. They're really the specialists at things like that," Tommy said as Kim returned with a gas mask on.

"Speaking of Hayley…how's that going Jason?" Katie asked, as Tommy pulled on the dinosaur's jaw and the door didn't open. "You have to teleport in, Tommy. It's barred from the other side."

"Okay," Tommy said, as he sighed. He didn't want to have to teleport from within his own house to another area of his house, but that just had to be done in this case.

"Jason, answer the question. It's important for us to know these things," Katie said as Tommy and Kim smiled. They had been dying to know about Jason's relationship with Hayley, but they wouldn't ask him about it for fear of him getting mad. Katie didn't much care if Jason got mad at her; she only had to worry about being a ranger with him.

"Katie, it's fine, but we're just friends," Jason said, as they all gave him a critical gaze. None of them really believe it was that simple, but they had to trust what he said.

"With benefits," Tommy finished, as Kim and Katie looked over at Jason, knowing he would deny that accusation, but he said nothing. Was that really true, for once? "That's the truth?"

"Yeah. Neither of us is ready to really settle down for something too serious. So this is how it goes," Jason said while Kim and Katie stared at him. Tommy couldn't really say that he hadn't expected this, but he didn't think it would come from Hayley, she always seemed ready to be serious about anything or so it had seemed.

"You need help," Kim said as she walked over to the control panel and looked at the buttons, wondering how to turn it on.

"This comes from the girl who dumped Tommy for some jackass if Florida," Jason said, hotly as Kim glared over at him. They then fell into an awkward silence as Katie and Tommy got out of their direct path and tried to work on things.

"Well he was a jackass," Kim said, as Tommy laughed and Jason joined in as well.

"We need to work," Katie said as Tommy looked at her.

"No, all we have to do is push this button," Tommy said and the room then lit up. "Hayley and I installed some extra security down here after it was blown up, so hopefully no one will ever make it down here again."

"Welcome, Tinnean Rangers," a voice said, as even Tommy looked up in surprise at the voice.

"Denlione?" Tommy asked as the others looked over at him and Jason seemed to sigh in relief.

"I am merely Denlione's conscience. I shall be here to help you with the problems that arise, if that is necessary," Denlione's voice said, as Tommy then started to have a conversation with it.

"Isn't this a little bit weird?" Katie asked as Tommy walked around and seemed to be calming down some.

"No, we're used to Tommy doing things like this. The rest of us just don't really agree with it," Jason said, as Katie smiled. Maybe being a ranger wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and let me know, whatever you are thinking about the story so far!


	18. A Date

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers, I do, however own Delione, the Tinneanites, Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, Gahaleigh, Belstan, and Angelina Gomez.

A date? Tommy Oliver was going on an actual date? Katie couldn't believe it when she heard the words come out of his mouth a few hours ago. He had never been the type to go out on a date as long as she had known him. Andie and he had always rented a movie and stayed at home, which was what she had thought would happen with Kim. However, Tommy wanted to go on a date with Kim, a real date.

However, there were some perks to Tommy wanting to actually go out on a date. Tommy was allowing Conner to come over to Hayley's, while Hayley was there, and spend the evening with Katie. She had never thought that Tommy would allow her to do that, but things had been changing since he had met Kim again. They swore that they were taking their relationship slow, but she was not sure how long that would really last.

"How crazy is this? Tommy is leaving fifteen minutes earlier than he usually would to go to the middle of town," Katie said, as Hayley and she laughed at the fact that Tommy never left early for anything.

"He seems to really want to be on time for once," Hayley said, as Katie continued to laugh.

"Hayley, it's crazy. Tommy never went on a date with Andie. He's never done anything like this before that I can remember," Katie said as Tommy headed down the drive and Hayley smiled.

"Tommy didn't like her as much, but don't tell Andie that. I saw her the other day and she looked miserable," Hayley said, as Conner walked in and held out a pizza.

"I'd be miserable too if the guy I dumped acted like he was fine. You have to admit that Tommy didn't exactly wait long before he moved along to someone else," Katie said, as Hayley shrugged her shoulders.

"We are not talking about Tommy and Andie's break up again. No matter how many ways you analyze it Katie, it happened and Tommy's happy. Plus, there's a hell of a prophecy hanging over his shoulders. It was going to happen, like you said, better now than later," Conner said, as Katie looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks for the pizza," Katie said as Conner nodded his head. "We're going to just have to find a movie on t.v., I couldn't find anything at the movie rental place. Surprise, surprise, right?"

"That's fine. Thanks for staying Hayley," Conner said.

"No problem. If you need anything just yell, I'll be in here," Hayley said, with a smile as she walked into her computer room. She had some business of her own to attend to.

"This wasn't your brother's idea of supervised privacy," Conner said, as Katie just shook her head. She knew that, but Hayley had told her that she had things to be done, too.

"I know, but Hayley has some important messages to make, especially to Jason," Katie said as Conner gave her a curious look. "I'll explain that to you later. I've found a whole lot after being here for a few days."

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"You're on time," Kim commented as Tommy looked at his watch and then looked over at her. If she only knew how hard it had been for him to arrive here on time. He had hit every stop light in town and then gotten behind someone who believed that going twenty was the best way to drive.

"I know, don't think this is normal though," Tommy said as Kim climbed into his jeep and sighed. This was the most comfortable she had been all day. She had been working on cleaning out her gym and was sure that Tommy would understand why she was so tired. "Tough day?"

"Yeah. I've been cleaning all day. I've almost got it to where the mats can be brought in. Then I'll have to get the beams and bars and a vault, but that can all come with time. I don't expect I'll have anyone who has potential to compete for a few years," Kim said, as Tommy looked at her.

"How much is this going to cost you?" Tommy asked, as Kim looked over at him. She was not sure that he wanted to know the honest answer about that.

"Don't worry about it, Tommy. There's a lot of stuff you need to be more worried about. Namely fixing your own dojo and your house. Are you going to have to buy everything new?" Kim asked, as Tommy shook his head no.

"I can save some of the mats and the computers are fine right now, but there are some things I can't save. The windows will cost the most and I know that the insurance company will pay for all the repairs to my dojo or I'll sue them. They can't exactly say that they do not see any damage done," Tommy said as Kim smiled.

"They hate you, don't they?" Kim asked, as Tommy nodded his head yes.

"But I give them the most money per payment term because my house, dojo, and the incident of accidental or weird damages occurring doesn't help me any," Tommy said as Kim smiled over at him.

"How'd you manage to find that out?" Kim asked, as Tommy pulled into the parking lot.

"An accidental interoffice memo I received. They were so sorry for the day I got that. Now I tell them I've paid my money's worth and they will pay theirs," Tommy said, as Kim laughed.

"That's a good one. I need to tell them that when I talk to them, because I'm afraid my insurance will cost just as much," Kim said as Tommy agreed.

"Especially if you tell them that you know me. Then you will definitely get a bad quote," Tommy said as Kim just looked at him.

"That's why I didn't tell them, although I may use that later to get a deduction," Kim said as Tommy glared over at her. "I'm just joking, Tommy."

"Dr. O, what are you doing here?" Angelina asked as Tommy looked at her and Kim smiled over at her.

"We're here to eat," Kim said as Angelina looked at her and realized that she was not Andie. She had heard murmurs of Tommy and Andie's breakup, but this had solidified the fact that it had really happened. But what had made it happen?

"Who are you?" Angelina asked, as Tommy looked at Angelina and then Kim. Why hadn't Katie saved him the trouble by telling Angelina who Kim was?

"This is Kimberly Hart," Tommy said, as Angelina's eyes widened and Kim politely smiled over at her. "It's not that bad, Angelina."

"No that's not it. I didn't think that anyone could find Kim," Angelina said as people were lining up behind them. "I'll take you to your table."

"Student of yours?" Kim asked as they sat down and Tommy nodded his head yes.

"At school and at the dojo and she's one of Katie's best friends. So she knows more about me than most people do," Tommy said as Kim smirked.

"She a good student?" Kim asked and Tommy nodded his head again. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I want to catch up. I know some things that have been going on, but we still have a lot to learn about each other," Tommy said, as Kim stared.

"How do you know Hayley?" Kim asked, knowing that she needed to know and find out the truth. Hayley seemed nice enough, but she didn't know much about her and that was a problem. If she was going to be working with the woman, she needed to have a better idea of what she was like.

"We met in college. She's the reason I passed my freshman year without all of you around. Jason and Billy came back my sophomore year and it was much better. She helped me do all my work on the command center at my house," Tommy said, as Kim nodded her head. She had expected that someone had helped him, she just didn't know who it was. "What about you? Did you ever go to college?"

"I went, competed on the gymnastics team and blew out my ankle during my junior year. Then I finished my degree and started coaching full time. I can still do most of the stuff, but my right ankle will never be the same," Kim said, as it was aching right now and she was sure that it was going to storm soon.

"But your new—job won't affect that? It won't hurt you, will it?" Tommy asked, as Kim saw the honest concern in his eyes and smiled. He hadn't changed that much in the past ten years and she liked seeing that he still cared. It made falling for him so much easier.

"Only when it rains and I think it is going to storm tonight, judging by the way it feels right now," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her.

"So, when we go at it in the rain…" Tommy said, allowing the sentence to fall of into nothingness.

"My ankle will be sore as hell, but I can fight on it. I've learned to wear a brace when I do anything remotely active," Kim said, as Tommy nodded his head.

"But, I don't think you'll have time to slip it on every time," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head.

"How come we always talk about this?" Kim asked, as Tommy shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't really know why, Kim, but it just happens. So, tell me about what's his name," Tommy said, as Kim laughed.

"My old boss?" Kim asked, as Tommy nodded. He was not sure if this was the man that he wanted to hear about, but he might as well hear about it anyway. "We met in college and he was on the men's team. I started working there, we started dating and then he changed. I was ready to get out, but I had no other job, being what I am gave me a good excuse to leave. He can't ruin a career out here when he doesn't even know where I live. The only thing I feel bad about is leaving the girls."

"And the prophecy scared the living crap out of you too," Tommy said with a smile.

"Yeah, that too," Kim said, as the waiter came over to take their order.

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"Kate, explain the Hayley/Jason thing to me. That's a new one," Conner said, as they had finished eating as much pizza as they could manage and were trying to decide on a movie.

"When they were helping clean out our house, they stuck close to each other a lot more than usual. So, I asked Jason about it. Let's just say that I never thought that Hayley would do that," Katie said, as Conner stared at her and then looked at the closed computer room door, to make sure that he could speak freely.

"Please tell me that it is not what I'm thinking," Conner begged as Katie just shook her head. She couldn't lie to him like that. "But why not settle down?"

"I can only guess that they're both afraid to get in a relationship. Trini died a few years back and according to Tommy, that broke Jason's heart. I can understand why commiting again would scare him. He has too many old memories to kill," Katie said, as Conner glanced at the television and then back over at her.

"Yeah, but who's Trini? I've never heard of her," Conner said, as Katie bit her lower lip and sighed. Why did it always seem that Tommy left the hard stuff for other people to tell?

"The original yellow ranger, from what I've been able to gather she was Jason's girlfriend at the time of the accident, they may have even been engaged. You can see how that would shake someone up. I don't know how she died, but I'm afraid that they would have dealt with it better if she had died in a battle," Katie said, plainly as Conner again glanced at the television and noticed a picture that definitely caught his attention.

"They've finally figured it out about us," Conner commented as Katie looked at it and smiled.

"It's about time. I didn't think that it would take them this long to find out there was another ranger team in Reefside," Katie said, as she had heard that when new rangers appeared it generally spotlighted the news.

"We don't fight enough, we're really just a rumor right now," Conner said, as Katie took in a deep breath. "Something wrong?"

"Do you think that maybe we all took the prophecy the wrong way?" Katie asked, as Conner switched off the television. Whenever he got into a slightly theoritical conversation with Katie, he had to have all his brain cells functioning. She thought in ways that made him wonder if she was really older than they all knew. "That maybe there is something else that we don't know about that will change the prophecy."

"Who knows, the prophecy may just be a bunch of crap," Conner said, as Katie gave him a wary look. "Obviously you don't agree with me."

"Conner, it's just this crazy feeling I have. I don't know if it was meant that Kim and Tommy would both live if they got back together. It may just be a way of prolonging the inevitable," Katie said, as Conner gave her a stern look.

"Don't talk about death, please, don't talk about death," Conner said, as Hayley walked out of her computer room and into the kitchen.

"Why not? If you talk about it, then you are more likely to be able to deal with it if it occurs," Katie said, as Conner sighed.

"Kate, we don't talk about it because of how likely it is to happen. Tommy was the one that made the Dino Rangers fear death, he almost left us several times. It's just not something that we like to mention at all," Conner said, as Katie gave him an odd look. He could still remember those battles vividly and he didn't want to have to be forced to relive them.

"But Conner, he should understand it better that you need to talk about it," Katie said, as Conner let out a frustrated sigh.

"Look, you can try to talk to Tommy about it, but I have the feeling that he will feel the same way that I do and he won't be willing to be this open about it. Rangers deal with the possibility enough, talking about it makes it more real and that is the one thing that does not need to be brought to reality," Conner said, as Katie just nodded her head.

"You weren't always this smart," Katie said, jokingly as Conner gave her a rather stern look.

"No, but I have to hold up my color and you know that blue's are usually the brains of the operation," Conner said, as they heard a car door slam and Hayley appeared from her computer room and cast them a vicious look, plainly saying that if she didn't say anything neither would they. "I guess I'll be leaving soon."

"I guess so, but I'll see you next weekend, if not sooner," Katie said as she gave him a hug and he then stood up. He still was rather leery about what Tommy might do. He might have calmed down some, but he was afraid that there was no way that it could be that much. "And don't let anything I said get to you, I think too much some times."

"I know, but that's what you do, anlayze everything," Conner said, as Tommy opened the door and gave the two of them a brief look.

"Thank goodness you're alive," Tommy said, as Conner and Katie both glared at him. "Bad thing to say?"

"Yeah," Hayley said with a smile. "They've been talking about just a few things tonight and death was one of them. Go figure, they're only sixteen and eighteen and death is a normal topic for them to talk about."

"Hayley," Tommy whined as Katie and Kim laughed. The evening had gone well for all of them, but the peacefulness was what shocked them the most. Why was Belstan giving them this false sense of security? Or did he just not know how to go up against rangers?

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to review, the good and the bad.


	19. The New Rangers

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything that is affiliated with them. I do, however, own the characters of Katie Oliver, Andrea Pridgen, Belstan, Gahaleigh, and Angelina Gomez.

As strange as it seemed, Tommy was willing to go to Angel Grove during Labor Day weekend. Although, Jason and Hayley had thought that it would take some bribing and eventually dragging to get him down there, he came with realitive ease. They had been spending some time together, what with the battles starting up, but it was nothing like the night they spent in Angel Grove that weekend.

"Hey, guys," Tommy said, as he walked up to them and they nodded over at him.

"How've you been?" Jason asked, as he had last seen Tommy when he had been beaten up by a giant carrot, which was one of the oddest monsters they had ever seen, but Belstan was not a normal evil, from what they were learning.

"All right, besides those odd incidences with vegetables," Tommy said, as Jason laughed. "What about you?"

"I'm good, nothing too weird has been happening around here, lately, but you know how Angel Grove can be. One day it's all good and the next day, we're in the middle of a battle between the worlds and we have fluffy bunnies running around," Jason said, as Katie had walked over to Aisha and Kimberly, who had pulled out an old yearbook. Neither of them had looked at it in years and reminiscing was always a nice thing. "You know that's just trouble waiting to happen, right?"

"Oh yeah, but Katie is going to do it, no matter what I say. I might as well sit back and watch. It's usually pretty funny," Tommy said, as Conner just nodded his head. He had tried to cut her off a couple of times and that was never a wise thing to do. He was starting to learn why Dr. O didn't say a lot, but just let Katie get on a roll and wear herself out.

"That head strong?" Billy asked, as Tommy and Conner shook their heads yes and Billy laughed. "I wonder who she gets that from?"

"Oh be quiet," Tommy said, as Billy and Conner laughed even more. Conner had seen that side of the both of them and although they were not blood related, they sure could fool almost anybody around them, if they put their minds to it.

"You got away with wearing clothes like that?" Katie burst out, as Tommy looked down at the grass and tried to hold in a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, as Aisha and she saw nothing out of the oridinary in the pictures. They had always worn clothes like that.

"Short-shorts and belly shirts? How in the world did you get away with that and no one else did?" Katie asked, as Kim and Aisha both had to think about it. Now that she said something, they were the only ones that ever wore those types of clothes, but nothing had ever been said.

"Well, we never really thought about that. No one said anything to us," Kim said, as Katie gave them a look and Conner came and pulled her away. He knew that if the two of them got into a fight, they would be at odds with each other for weeks before they would settle it and they didn't need that at all.

"Hold on just one moment," Katie said, as Conner let go of her hand and took a step away from her. "Can I wear that to school, Tommy?"

"No, there is absolutely no way I'll let you out of the house like that. I don't need any horny teenage boys calling the house," Tommy said, sternly, as Katie just covered her mouth to try to keep from laughing too loud as Conner just looked over at Dr. O. He did not realize what he was saying. "But you can wear it to the gym."

"That's not a compromise, I already wear that to the gym," Katie said, as Kim and Aisha smiled.

"Now that you mention it, I'm sure that there was some sort of rule about that in the code of conduct," Billy said, as Kim and Aisha glared over at him. They didn't need any reason for Katie to get any ammuntion on them and Billy was giving her the chance of using that, somehow.

"But they never got onto us for it," Aisha pointed out as Billy nodded his head yes.

"Yeah, but we weren't exactly a group that people got onto. We were the good kids," Jason said, as Katie and Conner laughed. "Go ahead and laugh, it's the truth."

"All rangers can't be good kids. It just doesn't seem right," Katie said, as they thought back on it and shrugged. It seemed that all rangers they knew were good, but they were sure there were some who had gone the wrong way, permanently.

"Most of them are...we just have flashes of evil every once in awhile," Tommy said, as Katie and Conner went and sat down by themselves. The others had a lot more to talk about and the two of them just wanted to be able to relax.

"So, how are they doing?" Zack asked, as Tommy just shook his head.

They were fine, from what he could tell, but there were some things that were bothering him, immensely. The way that things had turned out for those that bore their colors before was not sitting well with him, but there was not much he could say about that at all.

"Fine. Katie's still getting used to the idea of being one of us and Conner is just, Conner. There's no other way to say it. He's talking to her, which is more than I can say. I haven't really talked to her in the last few weeks," Tommy said, as Kim smiled over at him.

"Yeah, we all know why the two of you aren't talking so much anymore," Hayley joked, as Tommy mock-glared over at her and then shook his head.

"I have some catching up to do," Tommy said, as Kim just smiled over at him and then nudged him to look over at Katie and Conner. They had settled themselves on a lounge chair and were currently tickling each other, for no other reason than it just sounded like a good idea.

"You know who they remind us of," Aisha said, as Tommy and Kim nodded their heads yes and then looked at each other.

"Hopefully that is the most that they will be like us," Kim said, as they all nodded their heads.

"Why you so glum?" Conner asked, as they finished their tickle war and Katie sunk back into the seat without anything to say.

"Just thinking," Katie said, as Conner put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

"It's not a good thing when you think this much. Trust me, I know about these things. I know what it does to me," Conner said, while Katie just smiled over at him and then they both glanced up at the sky, which had a sudden streak of colors go through it.

"Tommy..." Katie said, standing up and walking over to the other rangers, who were staring up in the air as well. "What was that?"

"I don't know. We better go check the news," Tommy said, as they all walked inside. If there was a monster attack in Angel Grove, it would be on the news, it always was there. They knew that it was often the only way that the rangers knew about an attack and they all were wishing that Reefside would pick up the same habit, but they hadn't yet.

"Damn it," Jason muttered as they saw a monster attacking downtown Angel Grove. "I guess we aren't going to get to relax as much as we want to."

"Let's just go get this done, then we'll come back and try to chill out," Tommy said, as the other four looked at him and nodded their heads before morphing and then grasping their communicators to teleport them to the area of disturbance.

When they arrived on the scene an odd occurance was playing out. There were five people, already there fighting and although they knew that it should be odd, it didn't seem so at first. They were all used to seeing others as rangers, that it didn't at first occur to them that they were the rangers now.

"Hey, guys. There's one problem here. We're the only rangers in existence, right?" Katie asked, snapping the others out of their daze and it suddenly alarmed them that these five people were even here.

"Get them out of the way," Tommy said, as the other four ran towards different people and then dragged them out of harms way. It made no sense that there was an attack here in the first place, but it made even less sense that five citizens would just choose to fight.

"Uh," Katie groaned as she was kicked in the stomach by a dubon and somersaulted to the ground.

"Nice little girlie," Belstan said, as Katie jumped up and scampered away. She knew that none of the others had detected Belstan yet and she knew that this person was likely to tear them up.

"Um...I don't think this is wise," Jason said, as the man was struggling to get away from him. "You don't need to fight in something like this."

"But we can help," Anthony said, as Jason looked at him. "We're rangers ourselves, from another planet. We've dealt with Belstan before."

"You're what?" Jason asked, as he reached behind him and held out a morpher and Jason immediately let go of his shirt.

"I'll explain myself after the battle, just allow us to morph and help," Anthony said, as Jason nodded his head and the five of them morphed, which caused many of them to stop mid-motion in their battle to see who else had joined them.

"What in the world?" Kim muttered as she looked over at Tommy, who shrugged and then continued on in their battle against the dubons. He didn't really have any time to spare to think about the other rangers. If they were here to help, then he would wait until later to worry about them.

"Don't worry about it now," Tommy said, as Katie slammed a dubon into his back and then watched it disappear into a million little pieces.

"Sorry, Tommy," Katie said, as he just nodded his head that he had heard and then continued with the dubon in front of him. It seemed to him that he had seen this one before, now whether or not that was the truth, he didn't know. All of the dubons looked similar, but there were some distinct characteristics on each one that made them what they really were.

All too soon, the dubons had disappeared and the ten rangers were now staring at each other. Where there was no yellow ranger in the Tinnean group, there existed one in the alien group of rangers and where there was no blue in the alien race, there was a green in its stead.

"Fellow rangers, we are not safe to talk here. Where can we go that these mortals can not hear?" Anthony, the red ranger, asked to Jason, as he expected that he was the leader. There white ranger did not have the same role as Tommy, but it became clear to Anthony whom he needed to deal with.

"Follow us," Tommy said, as they walked off in a vague direction and the people of Angel Grove, began to emerge from their safe buildings. They always wanted to see them for just a moment, but they had learned not to stay too long. There were too many people that might try to congratulate them in ways that they didn't want. "We better run for it. We have a place that we can teleport from just ahead, how does yours work?"

"We can just grab ahold," Anthony said, as they reached the clearing and each of the Tinnean rangers reached out for one of the others as they were swiftly teleported away. Neither group knew or understood what this chance meeting meant for them, but one thing was certain, there was a change going on in this place and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, I know it is a tiny bit different and I'll change explain the new people in the next chapter. Toodles!


	20. From Where?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, and Daniel.

When they landed in the Command Center the rangers turned and faced each other, tentatively pulling off their helmets to reveal only their faces to the other set. The alien rangers, who were really called the Dycon rangers, looked completely human. There was nothing found in their faces that would lead anyone to believe that were not from this planet, which was why they were chosen to come on this mission. Many other teams existed, but no other teams had the lineage that these rangers did.

"I'm Anthony, leader of the Dycon rangers. Now, who is your leader here?" Anthony asked, as they all nodded towards Tommy and Jason. None of them were really sure, but Tommy nodded ahead to Jason and he stepped to the front, as the first acknowledgement that he was now the leader of this pack of rangers. That was why in battle everyone listened to the both of them. It didn't really bother them to have two leaders, instead of just one, but it was time to be diplomatic. "Were you a red before?"

"Yes, I was, but that was a long time ago," Tommy said, with a smile as Conner just shook his head. There were three of them standing there that had been or were currently red rangers, but he was not going to bother to mention that now. It seemed that would be inappropriate.

"It's Jason," Jason said, simply as Anthony smiled at him.

"Well, Jason and fellow rangers, these are my fellow Dycon rangers. Keema, the white. Win, the green. Alexa, the yellow. And finally, Daniel, the black," Anthony said, as each ranger raised their hand to indicate themselves.

They slowly looked around at each ranger and each of them could be consider beautiful in their own right on Earth. Keema had long light blonde, almost white, hair and bright gray eyes. She was only about a head shorter than Anthony and obviously seemed to be the second in command among these rangers. They did not know it, but she was the only veteran, besides Anthony and there was no need to address their relationship at the time. The other rangers would figure it out if they were around them long enough.

Win had short jet black hair and almost, unnaturally blue eyes and he stood only a slight bit taller than Anthony did. His appearance was slightly comical and easygoing, which was true to his nature and he tried to bring that out as much as he could, even in his ranger clothing.

Alexa had short auburn hair and brilliantly green eyes, but she was the shortest of the rangers, although she did make that up with her spunky personality. Her eyes were darting around the Command Center, seemingly looking for its hidden secrets and it seemed that she was finding some as well, by the minute changes in her facial composure.

Daniel had short dark blonde hair and brown eyes that seemed to have specks of bright gold floating around in them. He happened to be the tallest of the rangers and the most serious. The seriousness began with his eyes and their gaze on every ranger in front of him, which made it seem as if he was seeing through their outer shell and into themselves, although he would never admit that was one of his abilities.

Anthony had long brown hair and brilliant purple eyes, which had caught them off guard at first, but they were now used to them. He was the shortest of the male rangers, although he had never really cared about it at all. He was a ranger, that was all anyone needed to know about him. There was not much more to his complex. He had been trained for years and when he was placed on his first team, he realized why he had trained so hard. It was worth it and it gave him a sense of gratification that he had never had before.

"We are here to help you defeat Belstan," Daniel said in a serious tone, as the Earth rangers exchanged a glance at each other.

"He's not that strong. I didn't think that we would need help in order to pull this off," Jason said, as Anthony just shook his head.

"I was afraid that you would underestimate him, many have in the past. He is a tedious warrior, although he is known to be reckless at times. He, however, does have a plan and if he can manage to execute it, Earth will be his very quickly," Anthony said, as Keema walked to his side and grasped his hand, which she could tell had been injured.

Her powers to heal were much stronger than those that Anthony possessed were and she felt that it would no longer be bothering him in a few minutes. They needed to keep themselves as healthy as possible. No one here would be able to treat them and they did not need to go back home, just for some routine illness or injury.

"Please tell me that he was not good at one time," Katie said, as Anthony gave her a rye smile. That was not what he was really worried about, but he was not sure that he needed to reveal everything to them just yet. They seemed to have enough on their mind already without him adding this much more to it all.

"Oh, he was never good, do not fear that. He is just a warrior, we all are. We just happen to be on a different side from him," Anthony said, as Alexa let out a shriek of excitement and then ran over to the computer modules and began punching in codes. "Lexa, what have you found?"

"Zordon," Alexa said, with a brilliant smile, while the other rangers looked at her skeptically. They all knew Zordon to be dead, as they were from his home planet, so why did Alexa bring him up now? They didn't need to be reminded of him anymore. They were already thinking about him enough because they were on Earth. "He was once here. This is his Command Center. Oh, this is wonderful news. We'll be able to delve into his findings on this being. It'll be rather simple once we access the old computer files. Now let me see…where should I begin?"

"You have to excuse her some times. She tends to go off on tangents every once and awhile when she sees new gadgets to play with," Win said, with a bright smile, as the other rangers sighed. They had all been afraid that she was going to tell them that Zordon was coming back and by that reason, Tommy had already grabbed Kimberly, just in case she became shocked. They couldn't take a shock like that right now. "What are your names? Since Anthony did not have the manners to bother to ask you that once we were in the privacy of these walls."

"I'm Katie," Katie said with a smile, as they heard the dull thud that was almost certainly their friends landing in the adjoining room.

"Intruders!" Anthony yelled, as Jason put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head no, as Billy, Kat, Aisha, Zack, and Hayley walked out and saw a blaster gun pointed in their direction by an odd being. "Then what are they?"

"Former rangers," Daniel said, as he looked at each of them and Anthony let out a sigh of relief.

"Back to the names. We are going to need to know them at some time," Win said, as Anthony nodded as well.

"I'm Conner," Conner said, as Anthony looked him over thoroughly.

"Another former red?" Anthony asked, as Conner shook his head yes and Anthony let out a laugh. He had never seen this many red rangers on a team before. "Have you invited all of your red rangers to join this team?"

"Sorry, but no. We still have some more on Earth, somewhere," Tommy said, vaguely. He couldn't exactly remember where some of the red rangers were, but he was sure a good number were still on Earth.

"I'm Kimberly," Kim said, with a welcoming smile as Keema nodded over at her and Anthony gave her another analyzing gaze, then quickly looked away. What had he seen that he didn't like or want to see?

"And I'm Tommy," Tommy said, as Anthony just shook his head in confusion.

"How many times have you been a ranger?" Anthony asked, as Tommy just looked at him. He highly doubted that Anthony wanted to know the true answer to that question. "The number, please."

"1…2…3…4…5, I guess. I've been on more teams, but some of those ran together," Tommy said, as Anthony just shook his head. He had thought he would get out of it himself after his second team, but here he was on his third.

"I told you it wasn't weird, Tony. He's been on more than one team," Keema said, as Anthony looked over at her. She had been with him while he serve on his last team and this one, but she still didn't know how it felt to have been doing this for as long as him.

"Well, what he's not telling you is that he is the only one of us to have four different color complexes, talk about being a little bit confused some times," Kim said, as Tommy just shook his head. He did still get confused sometimes, but he was usually able to hone in on the color he was bearing as his ranger color now.

"A new color with every assignment?" Anthony asked, curiously, as Tommy shook his head no.

"I'd have about seven if that was the case and then I really would have an excuse to be confused about everything," Tommy said, as Anthony just nodded. He had been through two colors himself, but he was not sure that he really wanted to know that Tommy had been assigned to that many teams. "Where are you from?"

"Eltar," Alexa said, as the older rangers mouths dropped open and Katie and Conner just stood there, confused about the situation. They didn't know where the planet was or what it meant, but it obviously must be something significant to get that reaction out of the older rangers. "How else would I know that Zordon had been here?"

"My word," Billy said, as he was the first to regain his ability to speak. The others still seemed rather confused about what they were hearing, but he didn't want to scare the rangers that had come from Eltar. "I never thought we would meet anyone from there. I thought it was impossible to travel between these two planets easily."

"It wasn't easy, but we knew that we had to come help you. We couldn't just let all of you die," Daniel said as Billy nodded and the others continued to stare in shock. They had never thought they would see someone from Eltar and they had definitey thought that they would not look human at all.

"What are they talking about?" Katie whispered to Conner as he shrugged his shoulders and just shook his head. He had no idea. He had never heard of Eltar or any other planet really until he became a ranger this time. The Dino Rangers had generally dealt with only things on Earth, which was something that he was definitely thankful for.

"We never thought we would meet any of Zordon's rangers," Keema said, as Kim stared up at Tommy and saw a still dazed look on his face. "There were rumors that all of you had been destroyed in some battle. Obviously, those rumors were false."

"Well, it did almost happen," Tommy said, as he had finally regained his composure, although he was still very shaken right now.

"Several times," Kim said, as they nodded their heads. They had been able to deduce that the rumors did have some base in factual events, but they were sure that they would known if another ranger died. They had always known that in the past when that had happened.

"I think we may just want to go sit over there," Conner said, pointing at the couch that had been brought in. Neither of them really knew what was going on and they were paying them absolutely no attention, so they might as well get some rest while the others talked history and logistics and other things that they didn't understand.

"Yeah," Katie said, as they walked over to the side.

"These systems are confusing," Alexa mentioned, as Billy looked over at her and then walked over to the module. There was no way she was going to get into the files. He had made sure that only certain rangers could even activate the module. "There is no way to turn it on."

"You are not registered in the voice key matching system. It won't let you turn it on if it doesn't recognize your voice," Billy said, as Alexa looked over at him. "I programmed part of it. Start up."

"And who are you, exactly?" Alexa asked, as Billy began punching in commands and seemed to be getting lost in his own little world. "Sir?"

"I'm Billy Cranston," Billy said, as Alexa looked over at Keema and raised her eyebrows. They had heard of Billy Cranston, in a round about way, but why in the world was he back on Earth? They thought that he was living on Aquitar.

"Why are you back here?" Keema asked, as the boys were talking about things that she had absolutely no interest in, like the power of their weapons.

"I have my reasons," Billy said, with a smile looking over his shoulder at Katherine who was talking to Kim and Hayley about something, although he was fairly sure he never really wanted to find out about it. When the three of them got together, nasty things could happen, some times.

"Good reason," Alexa said, as she bumped Billy out of the way. She knew that she could handle the program now that he had gotten her into it. "You need to take a break. Now that you have gotten this on, I think I can find what we need."

"Yes ma'am," Billy said, as he was sure that these rangers probably had far better capabilities from where they are from and that they would easily be able to delve into the information section of the module.

"Enjoy it while you can, Billy," Kat said, as he looked down at her. "You know that you'll be doing work here in a little while and then you'll be stressed. They know what they are doing."

"I'm sure that they do," Billy agreed, as Kim nudged him and pointed over at the corner of the Command Center. Conner and Katie had curled up and gone to sleep, not that they blamed the two of them for being exhausted.

"Don't make fun of them," Tommy said, as Anthony laughed at seeing the two rangers asleep. He would have loved some rest right now, but it did not seem appropriate to do so while the other rangers were still working. "They know that they need to get all the rest they can get."

"Of course, Tommy," Kim said, as she looked around. "What work do we really have to do?"

"Not much," Win said, as they looked at him. They had expected that they would be busting their asses to help them, but that didn't seem to be the case. "It's not really work at the moment. We have to gather some information and compare it to what we know, already. But hang around."

"We're not going anywhere. We are going to have to talk to you about being human. There is no way that you can live here the entire time you are on Earth," Jason said, as they looked at each other and Keema tilted her head up at Anthony.

"Yes, we will. There is no need for us to interact with any other people from Earth. There is plenty of room here for us to make improvements upon and fit some beds in. Thank you for the concern, though," Anthony said, as they looked at him. "You might as well settle down yourselves. We'll let you know when we have found the information pertinent to this mission."

"Anthony, you don't even know what pertinent means," Alexa said, as the others held in a laugh.

"No, I don't, but you use the word enough that I think I can use it correctly," Anthony said and then looked at the other rangers. "Get some rest. The five of you will have to do the majority of the fighting and you are going to need to rest while you can. Trust me. We won't do anything crazy."

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have the next one out as soon as I get around to it. Toodles!


	21. Tommy's Questions

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, and Daniel.

"Oh my gosh," Katie said as she woke up feeling rather stiff and uncoordinated. She knew that she had fallen asleep in the Command Center, but she had no idea that the couch here was so damn uncomfortable. She had thought that they would have paid enough to make sure the thing was comfortable. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"You became a Power Ranger. I thought you would have figured that much out by now," Tommy said, as Katie just looked up at him with a slight hint of a glare. Why was he awake at this time of night? She had thought that he would be sleeping soundly as well by now. "Come on, we need to talk."

"About what? Tommy, I've only been doing this for a little while. I don't know that much about anything and I don't think that I can help you," Katie said, as he pulled her off the couch and Conner slumped down further into it and then rolled over to his other side.

"It's technically not all Power Ranger stuff. It has to do with a few other things as well, Katie," Tommy said, as she looked around and noticed everyone else was asleep, which was what any sane person would do at this time of night.

"Where are we going?" Katie asked as Tommy walked along with a sense of urgency in his step.

"The roof. It's the only place here that has a nice view and a place where we can talk freely," Tommy said as he reached up and pulled down a ladder, which looked as if it had been sitting idle for years, which was the case. Although, Tommy did trust that it would would hold them as they went up the stairs. "I haven't been up here in a very long time Katie. Things may have changed drastically since then."

"Tommy, you still haven't really explained yourself. I know that it is not normal for you, of all people, to be up at this time of night," Katie said as he pushed open the door with relative ease and then walked onto the roof.

"I couldn't risk telling you inside, I didn't want to wake any of them up. I need to know what you think about the prophecy or whatever the hell you want to call it. You are probably the most insightful person on this team. I know that it is not good to spin around in circles like I have been, but something about it just disturbs me," Tommy said as Katie sat down on the cold, steel roof and watched him pace around, running off the nervous energy that he had never had before now.

"You're not the only one it disturbs. What part do you want me to have a feeling about, Tommy?" Katie asked, as there were several things she had been thinking about, namely a possible lifetime relationship with Conner. She was only sixteen; she really did have a long time before she should be deciding something like that and who was to say that this prophecy was not as specific as they all thought it was.

"Kim dying," Tommy said, quietly as Katie smiled over at him.

"Tommy, I know that it is not something you want to face, but the possibility is very real. Our jobs make it more real that anything else in the world. You know that from being a ranger," Katie said as Tommy gave her a critical gaze.

This was not her gut instinct; this was an answer meant to try to calm the rough waters of her brother's mind. That didn't work. He knew her well enough to see the carefulness from a mile away. The way that she truly felt about this situation was going to disturb him, but he just wanted the truth.

"Now take all the bullshit away Katie and give me your real answer," Tommy said, as Katie looked down at the metal searching for the easiest way to tell what she felt. Tommy didn't need any more disappointment right now. He had been living with enough of it lately and she didn't want to cause him anymore. "Come on, Kate. You know that is not what you feel."

"No, what I feel Tommy is that time may truly be short for the two of you. I do not know how long it will take or what it will involve. After we're done, she may not be left or it may happen after that time," Katie said, as Tommy nodded his head and then smiled a woebegone smile. He didn't want to hear it, but the truth was the only thing to set him free.

"So, I may still lose her. After all this time, I may lose her to some stupid game," Tommy said, as Katie leaned back against one of the towers.

"Yes, but I doubt that. I just have this sinking feeling that was more of a warning than everything else. Everything so far has already happened, that might happen if we're not smart about what we do," Katie said as she sighed. "Yeah, I like Conner, but everything happened so fast."

"Kate, don't second guess it. You wouldn't be in there asleep next to him if you didn't like him," Tommy said, as they heard the door shut and Anthony joined them.

"Liking him is one thing, Tommy, loving him is another," Katie said as Tommy nodded. He knew what it was like to have those feelings running through your veins.

"I couldn't help but hear you two talking. Keema and I had the same sort of ordeal. We were unsure about our relationship and pushed into it, in a way. I love her, I am sure of it, yet there is always a question about us. We take it a day at a time and when it becomes too much we take some space. We love each other too much to just quit, without a very good reason," Anthony said as Tommy looked up at the sky and sighed.

"I don't know about love, yet. It's far too soon to think like that," Katie said, as Anthony laughed and Tommy managed to smile at her remark as well.

"Well, like is a good thing. You need to like him before you can love him. Some seem to try to skip that step and it rarely works out well," Anthony said as he stood up. "What prophecy do you know?"

"It's not really a prophecy, Anthony," Katie said, as Anthony held his hand up.

"Call me Tony. I only use Anthony when I am introducing myself to someone. It is a custom to use your full first name when you introduce yourself and if you do not wish to have any type of friendship between someone," Anthony said, as Katie nodded her head.

"It told us about the Tinnean rangers fates and because we have similar traits, we're worried that history might repeat itself," Katie said as Anthony nodded.

"Only one seems to have that be likely, but you need not know who. Your job will be affected if you worry about such matters too much. As a Power Ranger many risks come and go, but one thing remains constant and that is change," Anthony said, as they saw a bright light soar overhead.

"Nice to know we'll be dealing with changes on top of everything else," Katie said with a smile, as Tommy looked sullen. It seemed, as he feared, that Kim might follow the path of Nivine and make him live alone once more.

"Tommy! Do not dwell on it, for what happens, happens. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to stop it. There are some prophecies that just don't seem to have a logical explanation and it might never have one," Anthony said, as Katie stood up and walked over to the edge of the roof.

"You should know that already. Look at what happened to Mom and Dad. What happens will happen no matter what you or anyone else does," Katie said as Anthony nodded his agreement and Tommy shook his head. Why did she have to bring up their parents now?

"It's a matter of protection Katie. I've always protected her, even when we were apart. She didn't know about it all. She didn't and doesn't know what happened between the two of us was not a freak thing. Zordon knew it would happen, he told me and I was to be the only one to ever know. I can't stand to think that I might lose her again, after just getting her back," Tommy said, as Anthony and Katie looked at him and then slipped further away.

"Tommy, you will only lose her in this life. You will see her again, someday, somewhere. You just have to have some faith," Katie said as Tommy glanced around and then smiled over at her. He had told her that when their parents died. Now he got to hear his own advice from the other side of the coin.

"I can't believe that you do not see what is in front of you. As Power Rangers, you never truly lose all those that have gone. You have a bond, unlike any other and that makes it work. That makes you understand life in a way no one else can. Very few can say that they have the knowledge you have, but you must not be afraid to delve deeper within yourself to find it," Anthony said, as he stood as well. "Now, I shall like a good night's sleep as well."

"Night," Katie called, as he descended the ladder and smiled. He could now say that the mission to Earth had changed him. Which was exactly what he looked for in each mission he went on. He just knew that this change, however, was going to have an effect that none of them had expected.

"We need to go back down ourselves. We both need some rest," Tommy said, as Katie smiled then shook her head no.

"I'll stay for a little while. You never quite know what you'll find when you take a different look at things," Katie said as Tommy nodded and then disappeared to leave her to her own doings. He was sure that she would yell if something went wrong and that they would all hear her.

AN: I know it's short, but I wanted to have some more interaction with the foreign rangers before I do whatever is next. Toodles!


	22. New Zords

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, and Daniel.

Blearily, Anthony scanned the Command Center as he awoke, feeling refreshed and ready for the new day, except for the fact that he was on Earth. While the Dycon rangers lived on Eltar, they had a great variety of powers that could not be used here. He was roughly reminded of that fact as his stomach rumbled and he knew he would have to find some sort of food very soon.

"Keema…Keema, wake up," Anthony whispered as he shook her shoulder and she looked over at him with weary eyes. Why was he waking her right now? He knew that she liked to get some extra sleep after a long trip, but he was obviously avoiding that fact.

"What Tony?" Keema asked as she heard his stomach rumble and then rolled back over on her side. She was not going to deal with him trying to find food when she still need a few more hours of sleep before she could function like a normal person. "Go wake one of them. They'll know where the food is stored."

"Keema, please," Anthony begged as she shook her head no and then pointed to the other sleeping rangers. "Fine, I'll go."

"Holy shit," Kim said as Anthony woke her up with a rather rough shake. "What time is it?"

"I don't know, but I need something to eat," Anthony said as Kim hit Billy who jerked to life, as he had the breath knocked out of him. The black ranger was far too tired to move away from Tommy right now.

"He can help with that," Kim said as she curled up against Tommy and went back to sleep. Anthony was suddenly getting the idea that Billy might not even be willing to help him either, but he had to try. Not everyone could be grumpy when they were woken up in the morning.

"Food?" Anthony asked, tentatively, as Billy finally got his senses about him and realized what had happened to wake him up.

"Come with me," Billy said, quietly, as he stood up and managed to not fall over on anyone who was stretched out on the floor around him. "What do you want?"

"Whatever is customary to eat at this time of day," Anthony said, as Billy gave him a hard look. He was sure that Anthony did not really want to taste anything that was customary on Earth. He didn't want any customary food when he went to Aquitar. It made him sick just to look at it.

"Nothing is really considered customary anymore. We generally eat whatever we have around when we are not at home to cook a sufficient meal," Billy said, as he opened the cupboard. "Don't worry, I just restocked the supplies yesterday."

"This is food?" Anthony asked pulling out packaged meat and Billy nodded his head. It was not the best food Earth could offer, but it would surely sustain him for a few hours until some of the women were awake who could really cook.

"I was afraid to attempt to wire the stove top, as it has been dormant for a decade, at the least. The outer casing may be too corrupted to attempt it even when I do have the proper supplies and time to attempt it all," Billy said, as Anthony nodded his head, although he didn't really understand what Billy had said at all. Alexa would have probably been able to decipher what he said much better.

"What do you suggest?" Anthony asked, as he did not recognize any of the food that was placed in front of him to choose from.

"Do like things that are salty or sugary?" Billy asked, as Anthony shrugged his shoulders, which caused Billy to pass him a Honeybun and a bag of pretzels. Anthony was just going to have to try things until he could find something he liked or could at least stand to eat. "Try both, you may like either of them."

"This is considered food?" Anthony asked, as he looked at the plastic and thought that it surely could not be edible.

"The wrapping isn't but what's inside is, although I must admit you will have to have some better cuisine than our junk food pile," Billy said, as Anthony was still staring at the bags trying to surmise how to open one. "Let me do that."

"Eltarians can materialize their food from thought, but I cannot do that here," Anthony said, as Billy handed him the open bags. "What are these foods called?"

"Honeybun and pretzels. Only the best junk food we have for your breakfast," Billy said, as Anthony nodded and then tasted a pretzel.

"It is certainly not Eltarian food, but it is food nonetheless," Anthony said as he munched on the food and Billy turned to go back to the central room for some more sleep. "May I explore?"

"Certainly, you shall need to learn this place well if you are going to live here," Billy said as he continued on his merry way.

"Tony! What on Eltar are you doing?" Keema asked as she walked up behind him, while he studied the steel plating.

"Exploring," Anthony said, simply, as Keema gave him a reproachful look. He needed to be in there with the rest of them getting some much-needed rest. The journey from Eltar had drained all of them and she knew that he was going to try to push his limits, but he did not need to do that on a foreign planet. They did not have the reserves here that they had at home and he had to realize that or they would be in a lot of trouble. "Keema, this is our first chance to find out more about Zordon. Why not take it?"

"Anthony, we agreed that would come second for the time being. They need us at our best in order for us to be able to help them and that means you need to get some rest. We all were exhausted from that trip," Keema said, as they came to a steel door and the two of them studied it carefully before reaching for the handle to open it.

"The Zord bay," Anthony said, as he clicked the door open and was shocked at the sight in front of him.

There stood the Zords of the Tinnean rangers. They didn't know that they even existed, but it was enough to make the both of them forget about their argument about whether or not to search for information about Zordon.

"Oh my," Keema said as the lights flickered on so that the Zords could be seen properly. "I don't think that I've ever seen Zords like these before."

What was revealed to them was a sight for sore eyes. They had to admit that they had been wondering how these rangers would defeat a twenty-story high monster and now the Tinnean Zords sat in front of them, in all their glory. Directly in front sat the red Lion Zord, which towered far above them and caused them to look up in wonder at its prowess. To the right stood the white tiger Zord, which held a keen ferociousness in its eyes and the black raven Zord that seemed light and airy, although it was crafted in black steel. To the left stood the blue wolf Zord, which seemed to be the least vicious of the standing Zords, although its claws were rather menacing and the pink crane Zord which seemed agile, yet very deadly by the glint in its eyes. As they looked around, their curiosity peaked, wondering how these Zords had gotten here. They had not overheard them talking about any construction and it also made them wonder if they even knew of the Zords, but they only had to wait for a few moments, as Billy walked into the open Zord Bay.

"What in the world..." Billy muttered, as he walked in with Tommy right behind him and stopped dead in his tracks, which caused Tommy to ram into him from his inattentiveness. "Well, I guess we don't have to make the Zords. They came to us."

"But how did they get here?" Tommy asked, as Billy shrugged his shoulders and walked in further to examine the Zords better.

"We were thinking that you might be able to tell us the answer to that question," Anthony said, as Tommy just shook his head no and walked closer to the white Zord.

"This is awesome," Tommy said, as he reached out a hand and touched his Zord. "It looks so old, though and I get to be a tiger again. I like this a lot."

"I imagine it would be old if these are the original Tinnean rangers Zords, which seems to be the case," Billy said, as he looked through the wiring of the Zords and found it was as old as the Zords themselves, although it was in very good condition.

"How could it be the original Zords? We didn't even ask about whether or not they had Zords. Wouldn't we have been told that their Zords were going to come to our Command Center?" Tommy asked, as Billy just looked at him.

"We must assume that they had Zords, otherwise we would not have had Zords when we became rangers. Other than that we don't really know much of anything," Billy said as Tommy walked by each of the Zords.

"I'm sure Kim will be glad to be flying again," Tommy said, as he passed the black Zord and smiled.

"Speaking of Kim, where are the other rangers at this moment?" Keema asked, as Anthony continued to look at the Zords, seeming to have an even deeper theory about where they originated from.

"They are still sleeping. That floor becomes very uncomfortable and ultimately makes you sleep like a baby once you have been down there long enough," Billy said, as he noticed Tommy climbing to the top of his Zord. "Tommy, why go up there?"

"I just want to see where the entrance is," Tommy said, as he got to the top and stopped dead in his tracks. There lay a perfect model of his white-tigerzord and it pounced upon Tommy, causing him to fall backwards. "Nice to see you too."

"Tommy, what on Earth are you talking to?" Billy asked, as he climbed up as well and saw the dog-sized tigerzord laying on top of Tommy. "We need to wake the others."

"Yeah," Tommy said, as he managed to push the Zord off and stand up. "What does this mean?"

"I'm not sure yet, Tommy. We'll have to do some further analysis, but from my first instinct, I think this means that you'll have the little Zords in battle with you until you have to call upon their bigger partners. They seem as if they are meant to protect you," Billy said, as the little Zord followed behind Tommy, like a very obedient, although metal, dog.

"Tony, what are you thinking?" Keema asked, as Anthony continued to look around while Billy and Tommy went to wake the others.

"There is something more to this. These Zords may be from the Tinnean rangers, but they did not just materialize here, someone sent them and that's not a coincidience either. These were meant to be brought here and I doubt that they came without some persuasion," Anthony said, as Alexa, Win, and Daniel walked into the Zord Bay. They had been the easiest to wake up and they were startled about what was in front of them.

"Tony…" Alexa said, questioningly, as they all walked towards him. "What does this mean?"

"I think we may not have to look for proof of Zordon's last days as hard as we thought," Anthony said, as they all froze. Was there really a chance that Zordon could still be alive or could have come back to this place? "There is no need, however, to excite Zordon's old rangers. We must find where he is in this place before we mention anything to them. There may be a reason that he has chosen not to show himself to the rangers, yet."

"The two of you have to be kidding," Jason said, although he saw the little tigerzord following Tommy. He just couldn't believe that there were five Zords in the Zord bay when there had been none there last night.

"Do we all get one of these?" Katie asked, as the tigerzord had playfully jumped on her to wake her up, which was much better than the way that Tommy usually woke her up.

"I can only hypothesize that you all do get a miniature Zord of your own, although they are not pets, Katie. They are defensive weapons and should be treated as such," Billy said, as Katie glared over at him.

"But you do have to admit that it's pretty cute," Katie said, as Billy shook his head and laughed. She was going to try to make this experience as funny as possible, even if it didn't make any sense why she would find comedy in it.

"Yeah, it is," Kim said, although she was about as skeptical as Jason that there were really Zords just sitting in the Zord Bay. She could imagine Billy making a little zord overnight and fooling them, but he had never been that type of person.

"Zords…" Katie said in awe as Jason and Kim broke in run towards their Zords and Conner gently steered Katie towards her own.

"Oh this is awesome," Jason said, as he looked up at the lionzord and smiled. "Where do I get in?"

"The top, I suppose," Kim said, as she climbed up on the ravenzord and found herself facing her own little Zord, which quickly took flight and encircled her at once. "This is nice."

"Where's the stereo?" Katie asked, as she had climbed in the cockpit of her Zord and was looking at the buttons, which were a bit confusing.

"I doubt there was a stereo when the Tinnean rangers used this Katie. You usually worry more about hearing the rest of your team," Tommy yelled as Katie continued to look around the inside of her Zord.

"Well that's a shame. I'm sure that they could have used it during those missions that they had to go on when they wanted to not hear each other," Katie said, as she heard a thunk of metal against metal and looked up to see her little Zord trying to enter the cockpit as well. "Hold on, I'm coming back out."

"Billy, how do we get these to stay here?" Jason asked, as there was a tiny herd behind them and Billy, for the first time, seemed slightly panicked.

"I'm sure there is some way, Jason. I just haven't had the time to figure it out yet. It shouldn't take much time," Billy said, as Katie turned around to her little cranezord and gave it a stern gaze.

"Stay here," Katie said and then turned to walk away and the cranezord stayed in place. "Billy, I think these are more like pets than we expected."

"Yeah, they are," Billy said, as the Dycon returned from their look at the Zords.

"Most impressive," Win said as they smiled. "These Zords ought to do an adequate job against Belstan's forces if the battle is ever brought to that point."

"Tommy, I think we better be heading back to Reefside. You do have to teach school tomorrow and after sleeping out there, you'll need some extra sleep tonight and maybe a beer or two," Katie said, as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. He would have loved to stay there longer and look at the Zords, but she had a real point. The two of them had things that they had to do tomorrow and they didn't need to be suspicious, yet.

"Does that mean we need to teleport back to Jason's?" Hayley asked, as they shook their heads yes. "Well, we might as well go ahead and do this if we have to. We'll see you around."

"Yes, I am certain we will," Daniel said, as the rangers were teleported out and they looked at each other. Now that they finally had the Command Center all to themselves, they were going to begin their real investigation, into finding out whether or not Zordon was still alive.

AN: I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think of it, as this is going to be the starting point for several other things in this story.


	23. Accidental Discovery

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, and Daniel.

"Where should we begin?" Win asked as the five of them huddled together. They had just watched the other rangers leave them to their own allowances and now they had to get down to their real business. Yes, they were here to help the Tinnean Rangers, but they were also here to discover the fate of Zordon. They had been picking up odd occurrences from Eltar over the past few months and now that they had an excuse, they were going to investigate it to its fullest. If there was a chance that Zordon was still alive, they were going to find him. They desperately needed his guidance on some things that were happening to them back on their own planet.

"I'm not sure, the files here seem to show no record of what really happened to Zordon, other than he was killed by Andros under his own instruction, from what I was able to understand. It seems that they did not want to remember what happened to Zordon. They don't want to recognize that he is really gone," Alexa said, as they walked into the hallway and began journeying further into the Command Center. They had not been allowed to search most of it over the last day and were now eager to see what might be hidden behind each door. "Which is understandable as he meant so much to all of them, but recognizing it would make the grief go away."

"But he may not be dead, Lexa. There is enough evidence in that Zord Bay that he may still be lingering here. You heard them say that no Zords were mentioned to them, someone had to send for those Zords and Billy certainly did not. He was just as surprised as the rest of them about the new Zords," Anthony said, as Alexa nodded her head in agreement.

"You're right, Tony, but, as we have said before, they do not need to know of the possibility until we are able to truly locate him. We do not need to give them a false sense of hope. They have dealt with enough of that in the past," Alexa said, as they came to another steel door, which had rays of light emitting through the cracks.

"Is it just me or is there definitely a reason to turn back now?" Daniel asked, as they looked at him and just shook their heads. He was constantly picking up on some mundane thing that really had no relevance on what they were doing at the moment.

"Daniel, don't be such a worrier," Keema said, as Anthony and Win reached for the door to push it open. "I'm sure that it is nothing more than some lights being left on."

"Since when do rangers just leave the lights on? I'm telling you, we don't need to go in there right now. We need to wait to investigate this part of the Command Center until later," Daniel said, as Anthony and Win pushed the door open and were blinded by a gleaming white light.

"Rangers leave me as I am," Zordon said, as Anthony and Win stood there with their mouths wide open and their eyes almost popping out of their sockets

"Zordon?" Anthony asked, as he saw a faint outlining of the being that had told them to leave him alone.

"Yes, but you are not my rangers, are you? Where have you come from and what are you looking for here?" Zordon asked as the light around him decreased greatly and they were finally able to see him.

The sight that was before them was astonishing. The being known as Zordon that, for lack of a better phrase, had once been a floating head was now in a somewhat human form. He, however, seemed to be slightly transparent and definitely a little bit creepy. They were not sure how the rangers would take to him, but this was certainly better than anything else that they had expected to find here.

"We are the rangers from Eltar. We were sent here to help the Tinnean Force with the defeat of Belstan," Win said, as Zordon nodded his head and walked closer as the light completely faded so that they could see him. He was a bald man in a glistening white robe and seemed to be hovering several inches off the ground.

"The Tinnean Force? Who is on this Tinnean Force?" Zordon asked, as they looked around at each other. They were not sure that he would want to know that his old rangers were still in service and had been given the powers of the original warriors. "Tell me rangers. I am certain that I need to know who they are."

"Tommy, Jason, Kimberly, Conner, and Katie," Daniel said, as Zordon gave him a searching gaze then walked over to a table and set his hands on it. He had not expected to come back to three of his own former rangers. He had expected that they would have long been out of the game of battles and that it would be safe for him to return now, how wrong he was about that.

"Three of my own. Do you have any inkling why they were chosen for this team?" Zordon asked, as they all shook their heads no. They had not asked them about their reasons for being chosen for the team and they were not even sure that they did know why. They just knew that they were on yet another team and that there was nothing that they coudl do about it. "It was not supposed to be this way. I was not supposed to come back and help my own rangers, I was supposed to help a new team."

"They are technically a new team. They just have members that are veteran rangers, like some of us on our team," Keema said, as Zordon shook his head and then looked over at them.

He knew that when he showed himself to those rangers that had been with him in the past that they would have questions, questions that he could not answer. It was not that he didn't want to answer them, but by the way, he was able to be here, answering those questions would send him back to the realm of unknowns where he was no use to anyone.

"Yes, they may be a new team, but I never expected to encounter the rangers that I had previously trained. They know how I was taken away from them and they will want to know how I got back and that is something I can not tell them. They need me here much more than they need to know the answer to those questions and I hope that they can get past that," Zordon said, as he lay a piercing gaze on them, trying to discover what their motives were. "Did you really come to help the Tinnean Force or did you come to find me?"

"Both, to be honest Zordon. We noticed the increase in activity here and thought that it was either you or a new ranger team. When we heard of the Tinnean Rangers, we came as soon as we could, to help them with Belstan and to search here if we were allowed inside. If there was any chance to meet you, we were going to try. Eltar is going through great trials as we speak and we need all the help we can get," Alexa said, as Zordon nodded his head.

"I know of those trials and I know there is another set of rangers taking care of them at the moment, so it stands to be asked, why are the best rangers here on Earth, instead of on Eltar?" Zordon asked as they looked at each other and then directly at Zordon.

"We were sent to find you or some definition of exactly what happened to you. The leaders believe that you can help us with the trials in a way that no one else could," Anthony said, as Zordon nodded his head and then walked over to the steel door and closed it.

"Well, if they sent you here for that reason as well, then I do not wish to disappoint them, but Earth must be helped first. Belstan is not a patient conqueror and he will soon mount his most extensive battle and possibly his last if the blows are dealt correctly. That is why the Zords have been brought here from their homeland. The rangers will need them sooner than they expected," Zordon said, as they nodded their heads and then looked directly at him. "I ask that Keema and Anthony remain here. You three please teleport to the Reefside Command Center and proceed to go out of the Command Center through stairs. You will emerge in Tommy Oliver's house, please bring him and the rest of the rangers to me."

"Yes Zordon," they said in unison as they turned to walk out of the room.

"We need to prepare for their arrival. I expect that Kimberly will faint again, unless she has greatly changed since I left here," Zordon said, as Keema and Anthony followed him off to the main room of the Command Center. They had not thought that it would be this easy to find Zordon, but here he was and unless they were greatly mistaken, he was going to help them as soon as they defeated Belstan. That was the best news that they could have received, as their planet was in a great deal more turmoil than they liked to let on to anyone.

------------------------------------------------

"You know, I'm afraid that they will not like this at all. They have not had a pleasant nights sleep in quite awhile," Alexa said as Daniel nodded his head and Win merely walked around trying to find a way to switch on the lights.

"Well, we first have to find our way out of here," Win said as the lights flipped on and they saw the Command Center that they were standing in for the first time.

"I'm beginning to wonder if Zordon is right about the fact that we're under a house. It doesn't seem that there could be a house above us," Daniel said as Win pointed to the stairs that disappeared into the ceiling and they turned to go up them. They emerged in the darkened house of Tommy Oliver. As they had never seen a house quite like this before, they really wished to explore it but Alexa knew that they had an agenda to keep.

"Boys, come on! We've got something important to do. I'm sure Tommy will let you come back and explore the place later," Alexa said as she pushed the two of them up the stairs and by an open door.

"What's in there?" Win asked as Alexa sighed and pushed them even further down the hall to the first closed door, which she opened.

"Bathroom." slam. "Spare room." slam. "Two people having sex." slam. "Katie's room...what did I say before that?" Alexa asked, as they all halted their search and turned to look at the last door that she had opened, with a sense of curiosity.

"I don't know, but I think you might have said two people having..." Daniel said, being rather embarrassed and Win turned around, opened the door again and quickly shut it. "Let's go wake Katie up first."

"Katie, sweetie, wake up," Alexa said, gently shaking her shoulder as Katie rolled over then jumped out of bed when she realized it was the middle of the night and they were standing in her bedroom.

"What's going on?" Katie asked, loudly, as they shushed her and she stared at them even harder. Why did she have to be quiet if they were in her house at this time of night?

"We can't say yet, but we have a slight problem with waking up your brother," Alexa said as Katie knocked on her wall rather roughly and then looked over at Alexa.

"We shouldn't now. I hope," Katie said as she pulled on a pair of jeans to go with her nightshirt. "I'll get him up. He's been pissed at me before. You don't want to experience it, if you can manage it."

"Okay," Win said, as Alexa merely wondered if Katie knew what was going on right next door.

"Oh gross!" Katie yelled as she flicked on the lights then slammed the door shut as they all heard a scramble from behind the closed door. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"We thought you knew," Win said, as Tommy slung open the door and stared angrily at Katie, who was still screaming gross at the top of her lungs and doing an odd sort of dance, which they had not attempted to stop, yet.

"What...is...going...on?" Tommy asked, carefully, as he shook with rage as Katie just shrieked and ran back down the hall, leaving him clad in his boxers in the middle of three Dycon rangers. "Katie! Get back here, now!"

"Tommy, easy boy. She didn't have a clue and doesn't have a clue about what is happening tonight," Alexa said as Win and Daniel both restrained him from following after her while Kim peaked her head out and noticed the look on Tommy's face. She then turned around and went back in his bedroom without a word being uttered. She knew that she had better get dressed quickly.

"Please explain it," Tommy said, hotly as he heard the shower swish on down the hall and could only imagine what Katie what scrubbing herself off with, "so I can go try to undo the emotional trauma caused tonight."

"That's the problem Tommy, we can't. You have to gather Conner and Jason, then we have to make the trip to Zordon's Command Center. It will all be explained when we arrive there," Alexa said, calmly as Kim walked out, now fully dressed and looked up at Tommy who was still irate.

"Go get dressed, Tommy and I'll handle Katie," Kim said, as Tommy looked at her and then walked back in his room. He had been dreading talking to Katie, so if Kim wanted to give it a try, then he was more than happy for it. "Then we'll do whatever they are here for."

"You really think she's going to want to talk to you?" Win asked, as Kim shook her head no.

"But I have to try, Tommy's no good at things like this and he'd probably just make it worse. I'm hoping that because I'm a girl I'll be able to get to her someway," Kim said, as she walked up the hall and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Go away!" Katie yelled as she continued to scrub herself off with the nicest smelling body wash she had.

"I'm not going away," Kim said, stubbornly as she tried the doorknob and found it to be unlocked, which was just what she had hoped for, knowing that Katie was in a hurry to just get the picture out of her mind. "I'm coming in, don't jump me."

"Leave me alone! Just let me try to rid these pictures from my mind in peace!" Katie yelled as Kim sat down on the toilet and let out a long sigh.

Tonight had been so wonderful for the both of them, but she knew that telling Katie that would gross her out even more, so she was going to go with the most truthful thing that she could tell her, which was not really much of the truth at all.

"Katie, I know what Tommy and I were doing was completely unexpected for you to walk in on and I'm sorry you had to find out about our sex life this way," Kim said, as Katie peaked her head out from behind the curtain and just stared at Kim.

"You don't have a picture of your brother naked humping someone, now do you?" Katie asked, bitterly, as Kim couldn't help but smile, even if it was not so funny to know exactly who she was talknig about.

"No, I don't, but I can promise you that you are no where near as embarrassed as the two of us are. We were irresponsible and call us crazy, but we thought if there was a problem you would go through the secret room and the bathroom, so we locked that door. I guess we should have locked both," Kim said, as Katie grabbed the bottle of body wash with extra vengeance and squeezed some more onto her wash cloth before scrubbing herself down with it again.

"So how long has this been happening?" Katie asked, as Kim's eyes widened in shock, but Katie couldn't see that through the shower curtain.

"Tonight," Kim whispered, as Katie pulled back the curtain again and looked Kim directly in the eyes, as she reached back in the shower and turned off the water.

"So, it's just some freak thing that I walked in on it," Katie said, as Kim nodded her head yes. "Where have you been going before here?"

"No, Katie, I mean that tonight was the first time…ever," Kim whispered as Katie just stared with wide eyes and then grabbed a towel off the towel rack. "I know we were stupid, but these last few weeks have done things to the two of us that we never thought would happen."

"I don't want to know anymore. Next time, please just put out a Do Not Disturb sign or something. I promise you I will get the drift," Katie said, as she stepped out of the shower wrapped in a towel and Kim gave her a half smile. "I know this is personal, but please tell me you used a condom."

"Oh shit," Kim said, as she turned and ran out of the bathroom with Katie only a few steps behind her as she walked out into the hall, which now held, Tommy, Conner, and Jason. Conner and Jason were oblivious to what was going on there tonight, but when Katie ran out in a towel, Conner's eyes widened so quickly that Jason honestly thought they would pop out.

"Katie, jeez, put on some clothes!" Tommy yelled as he quickly covered Conner's eyes and Katie placed her hands on her hips and just looked at him.

"You're one to talk, Tommy," Katie said, as Jason walked over and picked her up and took her directly to her room.

"Look, whatever happened here tonight, I don't want to know about, but you and Tommy can talk about it later, right now we have other business to attend to. Get dressed, Katie," Jason said, as he walked out and shut the door behind him. "What the hell is going on in this place?"

"You don't want to know," Alexa said, as Jason looked at Kim and Tommy and just started shaking his head.

"You didn't," Jason said shaking his head.

"We didn't what?" Kim asked, alarmed.

"You wouldn't," Jason continued still shaking his head.

"Wouldn't what?" Tommy asked.

"Please tell me that you used a condom," Jason said as Conner jerked his head over towards the two of them, finally getting the drift of what had happened to cause Katie to take a shower at two in the morning.

"Shit," Tommy swore, loudly, as Katie walked out of her room and then quickly ran back in it as Tommy yelled.

"Katie, it's safe to come out, your brother just forgot to use a condom," Conner said, as Tommy glared at him, while Kim's face turned bright red.

"Conner, if you want to live, you best shut the hell up right now," Tommy said, through clenched teeth as Alexa, Daniel, and Win looked at each other. They knew that they had better get them out as soon as they could or they would be fighting each other.

"Are all of you ready?" Alexa asked, brightly, as Tommy nodded his head yes, while glaring over at Conner. "Well, then, let's go back to the Command Center and teleport all of us to Angel Grove."

"You okay?" Conner asked, as Katie gave him a look and he then slipped his arm around her. "Sorry. That bad?"

"Yeah, it was that bad," Katie said, as she walked closer to him and laid her head on his chest. "I never am going to just barge into his room again…ever."

"I don't blame you," Conner said, as they arrived in the Command Center.

"Coordinates?" Alexa asked, as she didn't understand the teleportation system in front of her.

"I'll do it, its no big deal," Tommy said as they all huddled together and he pressed in the code. "It's back to Angel Grove for us. This had better be good."

AN: Okay, let me know what you think. I just got a little snippet of an idea and ran with it towards the end, so I hope you like it. Until next time, toodles!


	24. Answers

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, and Daniel.

While Alexa, Daniel, and Win were going to find Tommy and the rest of the Tinnean rangers, Zordon allowed Anthony and Keema to call upon all of the others that they knew were helping the rangers. They might as well know that he was back and that their services would still be needed but not in the same capacity as a few days ago. Now that they had a mentor, it would be much easier on all of them. That action, however, was put on hold as the rangers landed among the three helpers that they had been able to locate.

"What's going on?" Jason asked, as the three Dycon rangers turned and left the room without much to be said to them. They knew that Zordon would reveal himself in his own time and they did not need to risk the truth coming from their lips.

"No clue. Why did it take you so long? Keema told us that they left an hour ago. It shouldn't have taken that long to get you from Reefside," Billy said, as Jason, Katie, and Conner looked at Kim and Tommy, while the two of them looked at the floor. They knew better than to look at Billy, because he would know what had happened.

"We had to break up a party," Katie said, with a smile as Tommy glared over at her and Kim merely shuffled a few steps closer to him and took hold of his hand.

"What kind of party?" Hayley asked as Aisha studied both Kim and Tommy and then began shaking her head no. She couldn't believe that they would decide now was a good time to have sex.

"How could the two of you wait until now to do that? Hell, we expected you two to right before she left for Florida, but not now. What were you thinking?" Aisha blurted out as Kim and Tommy looked up for the first time and Aisha took a good look in Kim's eyes. She knew there was something more there and she didn't want to see the guilt. "Please just tell me that you used protection."

"Sorry, Ish, but no," Kim muttered as Billy and Hayley looked at each other then looked at Kim and Tommy before blurting out their thought.

"You didn't use a condom?" the two of them yelled as the Dycon rangers walked back in and stared at them.

"What's a condom?" Keema whispered to Alexa as Alexa shrugged her shoulders. She had been trying to figure it out ever since the odd word had come up in conversation, but she still had not been able to get its full meaning.

"No clue. They haven't explained it and we haven't asked," Alexa whispered as they looked over at the other set of rangers.

"No, we didn't use a condom and will you please just tell the rest of the rangers so we don't have to go through this conversation again," Tommy said, hotly, as Aisha, Billy, and Hayley took a few steps away from him and then looked at each other. They did not want to make Tommy any more ill, considering the fact that the news was supposed to be important today.

"Tommy and Kimberly, I do wish that the two of you would have been more careful. It certainly would make it easier on the two of you," Zordon said, as he entered the room and the eight unsuspecting rangers jerked around to look at him, some out of recognition of his voice and others out of curiosity. "However, we will find out soon enough if your blunder will affect us adversely."

"Zordon?" Jason asked, as Kim merely looked up at Tommy, who had wrapped both of his arms around her, before she fainted.

"Yes, Jason, I have returned, although the circumstances are greatly flawed, I am back to help the rangers," Zordon said, as Jason and Tommy looked at each other while Katie and Conner stood there in confusion about who this Zordon really was. Conner had some sort of mangled idea, but Katie was oblivious to who was standing in front of them and why it was so miraculous that he was there.

"But how?" Tommy asked, as Zordon gave him a deep look and Tommy suddenly understood that that was something he need not know, although Zordon was going to give him some sort of verbal answer. "I didn't think that you could ever come back."

"That is neither here, nor there Tommy. We have much more to be concerned about at the moment and as soon as Kimberly awakes, I am afraid we will have to run some vital scans. I cannot have a pregnant ranger to worry about during what it ahead," Zordon said, as they all looked at each other. How in the world was Zordon going to be able to tell if she was pregnant when they wouldn't even know for a month, at the least?

"Who are you?" Katie asked, as Zordon smiled at her, thankful that she was oblivious to knowledge of his original place here.

"I am Zordon of Eltar, keeper of the Power Rangers on Earth," Zordon said as Katie nodded her head then smiled. She imagined that this was very good news to have a mentor that was impartial and it did help that he had a good history. "Now, Katie, I imagine that you and your brother have many things that need to be attended to before any sort of mission can begin."

"Yes, sir, but how can we go on a mission when I'm in school and he's teaching?" Katie asked, as Zordon took a few steps back and then flicked on the viewing globe.

"Very easily, Katie, all of you shall begin your mission on the twentieth of this month. That should be enough time for all of you to get your affairs in order and explain why you shall be missing work or, as in your case, school for a few weeks. Your mission has been complicated greatly as of late, not only will you defeat Belstan, but you will also travel to Eltar, to help the Dycon rangers," Zordon said as Katie nodded her head and Tommy and Jason looked over at the Dycon rangers with a question in their eyes. Had they just come for this very reason? To find Zordon and then have him send them back to Eltar to help them with their problems?

"Belstan has not attacked us heavily, Zordon. Why will the defeat of him come so soon?" Tommy asked, as Zordon turned to face him.

"No, he has not attacked you heavily, yet, Tommy. That shall begin very soon and while you have the time prepare and rest, you shall need to do both if you are going to achieve the task placed in front of you," Zordon said as Tommy nodded his head and Kim's eyes finally fluttered open.

"Took you long enough," Tommy whispered as Kim, looked up at him, rather confused as to what had happened. It seemed to be a dream that Zordon was really back here among them. She knew that that could not happen; she had heard what happened to him from Jason and doubted he would ever come back.

"Is it real? Is Zordon back?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head yes and she looked over to see Zordon and promptly fainted again.

"This is getting old," Jason said, as Tommy lightly slapped her face this time and she woke up with a jump.

"Kimberly, there are some tests that need to be ran on you, if you will follow Billy, I assure you he will find the equipment necessary for the tests," Zordon said, as Billy headed towards the medical bay and Kimberly followed closely behind him. She really didn't want to have to deal with this tonight, but she knew that all of this would put their minds at rest.

"Billy…please don't say anymore. I don't think I can take you being disappointed, too," Kim whispered as Billy smiled over at her and put his arm around her.

"I wasn't going to Kim. It was just unexpected for all of us to find out the way we did. None of us can really be mad; you have loved each other for about ten years. We can just only hope that we will not have to find a replacement at this time. The two of you together are much more valuable than any replacement we could find," Billy said as they walked into the medical bay and Billy saw that Zordon had placed out the equipment he would need.

Thanks to the knowledge of the Aquitarians, they would be able to tell if she was pregnant and although it had been years since he had used the equipment, he still remembered it well. The Aquitarian women who had had to have that machine used often times screamed in pain and the memory of that coming back to him, made him feel sorry about what he was going to have to do under Zordon's orders.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it?" Kim asked, as Billy could only nod his head yes and Kim closed her eyes and tried not to cry. She already felt humiliated enough that everyone knew what had happened earlier tonight, but now she felt almost sure that she could not take this type of test.

"You want me to get anyone?" Billy asked, as he didn't feel completely comfortable doing this himself, as he looked down at the hospital gown and could only imagine what thoughts were running through her mind.

"Please," Kim said as Billy gave her a hug, which he knew she would need more than any words that he could say.

"Aisha or Tommy?" Billy asked, as Kim shrugged her shoulders that she didn't care and Billy then let her go and handed her the hospital gown. "Please change and remove your undergarments, I'm sorry that I have to do this Kim."

"I know, Billy, but what choice do we have?" Kim asked as she looked at the hospital gown and then sighed. She didn't have a choice and Zordon saw it necessary that this be done tonight, instead of allowing them to wait a few more hours.

"Aisha, come here," Billy said, as Tommy and Jason were talking and he didn't think it wise to disturb them at the moment. "Who do you think Kim would rather have with her?"

"What's going on?" Aisha asked, as she just though Kim would go through some machine and it would tell them, but obviously, this procedure was going to be worse than that.

"The test is semi-invasive and I'm afraid she's already sore, which means this test is not going to be at all pleasant," Billy said as Aisha just looked at Billy.

"I can't do it, Billy. I'm sorry, but there's no way I can just stand there and I don't know that Tommy will be much better, but he'll probably be able to keep her calmer," Aisha said, as Billy looked over at Jason and Tommy.

Tommy seemed to be trying to figure out a way to just make it through this night and then get home. He obviously was not really listening to Jason very well, but the show was just enough to make Jason keep talking, which he hoped would help Tommy.

"Tommy, come with me," Billy said as Tommy turned and followed him while Jason just looked over at Aisha who was giving him a concerned look herself.

"Billy…I don't know if I can just sit there," Tommy said, quietly, as Billy looked over at him.

"How'd you know?" Billy asked as Tommy just looked at him.

"I saw you come in and I listened to what you said. You weren't standing that far away, Billy," Tommy said as Billy just nodded his head and then opened the door to the medical bay.

Kim was sitting on the bed in the paper thin hospital gown, just keeping her eyes on the floor, seemingly humiliated, although none of them felt that she should feel this way. She was an adult and her sex life should be kept private, but that was the problem with being a ranger, some times things got brought out into the open that were best left alone. None of them liked that this was the first way to find out if she was pregnant and Billy certainly didn't like that he was the person that knew how to operate the machinery.

"Billy, I don't know if I can do this," Kim said as Billy sat down next to her and Tommy sat on the other side and slipped his arm around her. "Couldn't we just tell Zordon that I'm not and not do the test?"

"Kim, I don't want to do this, but we have to know and this is the fastest way for us to be certain if you are pregnant. You don't need to get hurt any way, but I'm sure that the two of you don't want to risk if you're pregnant you losing the baby in a battle. That's why Zordon wants to know," Billy said as Kim just placed her head on Tommy's shoulder and closed her eyes. Neither of them could argue that point, but neither of them wanted whatever was about to happen to happen, either.

"Just get it over with, Billy," Kim said as she lay down and Billy grabbed the machine, knowing that she could change her mind and he did not want to have to do anything by force, as it would only make it worse.

"I'm just going to explain this, so you won't be as shocked. This part goes inside and this part is external and sits on your stomach above the uterus. The machine will then be turned on and it will do a diagnosis of your condition. I have seen it take as little as ten minutes and as long as an hour, I have no clue how long it will take for you. It will be uncomfortable, but it is the fastest way that we can get an accurate answer," Billy said, as Kim closed her eyes and nodded.

"What's the chance this will be wrong?" Tommy asked, as Billy stopped from beginning the procedure and looked at him.

"I do not know of an instance when it has been wrong, Tommy," Billy said as Tommy nodded his head and then looked down at Kim, who pulled him down to where he was hugging her. Then Billy truly began the procedure.

"Ah," Kim tensed as Billy switched on the machine and although a whirring now filled the medical bay, Kim's first moan caused some worry from Billy, although Tommy was just as upset that she had to go through this and would have gladly changed places. Why did they have to be so stupid and not use protection?

"It turns itself off, I'm going to leave the room, all right?" Billy asked, as he knew that he couldn't stand in there. In his doctoral training on Aquitar, he had not known any of the women, but it was much different to know someone and know of the pain this was likely to cause.

"Okay," Tommy said as he again closed his eyes and held on to Kim even tighter. "I'm so sorry I did this to you."

"Don't say you're sorry, Tommy. I know that you wanted to just as much as I did," Kim whispered as she snuggled her head closer to him. "I'm just ready for this to be over with."

"I know," Tommy said, quietly as they lay there in silence, knowing that they both wanted to hear the moment that the machine switched off, so that Tommy could go get Billy. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It hurts," Kim muttered as Tommy just nodded his head and felt her strengthen her hold on him.

Nothing in the world had prepared him for this and neither of them knew what to do. If it turned out that she was pregnant could she give away her powers? Could she survive the withdrawal if she had to give up her powers? Those were two of the first questions that came to mind, but they both knew that they would just have to cross that bridge when and if they came to it.

"Zordon, why do we have to know tonight?" Jason asked, as he knew that both Tommy and Kimberly were thoroughly embarrassed and just wanted to try to let themselves heal from it all. This test was just making it worse and that was something that they didn't need right now. "We could wait until morning and let the two of them get some rest."

"Jason, it is far better for us to know now, so that we will be able to find an adequate replacement, if that is at all possible. I do not mean any more harm or embarrassment, but this is necessary for the upcoming battles that are ahead. You shall understand that once you have fought in them," Zordon said, as Jason nodded his head and then went and sat down next to Hayley, who gently held his hand.

"Jase, you know that the two of them are strong. Why are you so worried about them?" Hayley asked as Jason just looked over at her.

"I'm worried about it because this is just the type of thing that could destroy us all over again. What if she is pregnant? What if the test is wrong and something happens? There are too many risks," Jason said as Hayley just looked at him.

"I know you are the leader, but Jason it's not for you to worry about," Hayley said as Jason just looked at her. Like hell it wasn't, she hadn't seen teams fall apart because of the two of them and he didn't want to be apart of it again.

"Yeah it is. We all have to worry about it, Hayley. This team will fall to pieces if she's pregnant, not because we won't be happy, but because Tommy won't be the same. That's all we need is for him to go off on some tangent right now," Katie said, as she realized what was at hand. She knew her brother well enough to know that he loved Kim more than he loved anyone else and that if he was going to have to be out there without her then they were in for a very long and tough haul.

"No test results, right?" Hayley asked as Billy walked back in and sat down next to Keema.

"No, I just do not think it wise to stay with them. The test is a bit brutal and although Kim is strong enough to take it, I don't know what psychological condition it will leave her in over the next few days," Billy said, as they nodded.

"I have a question. What's a condom?" Keema asked, rather suddenly, Billy as his face turned red and they all continued to stare at him. All of the Dycon rangers wished to know the answer to that question, but none of the rest had been brave enough to ask.

"A type of birth control," Jason said, as Keema still looked confused. "It keeps a woman from conceiving a child."

"Why wouldn't you want that?" Keema asked, as Jason had to think of an answer for that question.

"Well, right now we don't necessarily want Kim to be pregnant. It wouldn't be in the best interest of the child or the rest of us, which I'm sure they didn't think of," Katie said as Keema just looked at her.

"But why put yourself through that pain?" Anthony asked, as they looked at him. "The process to become pregnant is very painful on our planet, is it not the same here?"

"Not always, only the first time," Jason said, as Katie and Conner both covered their faces and tried to tune out the conversation that was about to happen.

"But why?" Keema asked, confusedly as they looked at Zordon and then all of them shrugged their shoulders.

"Billy, she's going to kill you," Tommy said as he walked out and Billy just nodded his head in agreement. He had honestly thought that would be the first words out of Kim's mouth when he came back there to read the machine. "I'm tempted to do it myself, but she's surely got more vengeance inside of her."

"Tommy, I did what I could," Billy said as Tommy just looked at him and he was certain that he could feel the anger rising off of him at the moment. "I'll just go get the results."

"Thank you," Tommy said, as he sat down in front of Katie, who gave him a hug, which brought him back to reality. "I just want to go home and go to sleep."

"I know, Tommy, but we've got to deal with it. We'll be all right, Tommy, you've said it yourself," Katie said as Tommy smiled and looked up at her.

"It's easier to say that when you don't have this to worry about," Tommy said as he stood up and walked over to the door to get away from the rest of them.

"Billy, if you ever put me through something like that again I will kill you," Kim said as Billy entered the room and she was still laying on the table. "I've been humiliated enough, but this is worse than anything else I have ever had happen."

"Well, what were you hoping for?" Billy asked, as Kim sat up and clutched her stomach. "Sorry about that."

"Billy, I really do not care, I'll live with either," Kim said, as Billy looked at the print out and continued to try to be calm, as he read it.

"You're not pregnant," Billy said as Kim sighed and then looked at the door. "I'll tell Tommy."

"No, I will. Billy, I'm the one that needs to tell him," Kim said as Billy looked over at her. "Just send him back, you can tell the rest while I talk with him. And Billy, will you please ask Zordon if we can go home? We really need it."

"Sure, do you want me to send Katie with you?" Billy asked as Kim shook her head no and Billy smiled. "Okay, if you can't I'll come back here and tell you. I'll send her home with Conner. I'm sure that he'll enjoy it."

"What's the news?" Tommy asked, as Billy looked at him and then sent him back to the medical bay.

"Can they leave?" Billy asked, as Zordon nodded his head yes and the others had now gathered around Billy to, hopefully, get an answer. "She's not pregnant."

"Thank goodness," Katie said as the others smiled. "Can I go home?"

"Not with them, Katie, I'm sending you back with Conner. They need some time and I have the feeling that Tommy is not going to expect you to be at school today, it's already seven o'clock in the morning and you both need some rest," Billy said as Katie just nodded her head.

"Rangers, I shall call you in a couple of days, be prepared for it, so long for now," Zordon said as he teleported them all away. The night for all of them had been rather hectic, but they knew that there would be many more nights just like this one and it was very likely to be worth it in the end, although right now they were certainly not sure about that.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think about it! Toodles!


	25. Morning After

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, and Daniel.

_Kim's POV_

Last night was a nightmare. I have been poked and prodded and humiliated in ways I never thought possible, but it did happen to me, nonetheless and it was by my friends, which makes it so much worse. Zordon is back among us and if he hadn't been here, Tommy and I would have been questioning things for the next month or so, wondering if I was pregnant. I guess you can say I am slightly thankful that I know I am not, but it still does not make up for the embarrassment the both of us felt. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to look at the rangers the same way again.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Kim said, as Tommy rolled over at ten o'clock and looked up at her. She had woken up about an hour ago, but had not felt like getting out of bed and had just sat there and let her thoughts roam. She knew that it was best to let some of it out of her subconscious before Tommy woke up.

"Morning, how are you feeling?" Tommy asked carefully as Kim just shook her head and looked away from him. She couldn't stand to look him in the eyes right now. "Baby, please, don't pull away from me."

"Tommy, they're our friends. Why couldn't they just wait? Why did Zordon have to know last night? Why couldn't we have, at least, waited until everyone else was gone?" Kim cried as Tommy quickly sat up and pulled her into a tight embrace. He knew that this was going to happen, although he had fully expected it to happen last night instead of this morning.

"I don't know why and I don't know if knowing the answers would help you any. Zordon confuses all of us most of the time. You know there is no use trying to understand when he doesn't want us to," Tommy whispered as he felt her shaking in his arms and held her even tighter. Why was it that every step in their relationship had emotional scarring to go along with it?

"Isn't it enough that we were found out by your sister? Tommy, I just don't know how to handle this. How can I look them in the eyes again?" Kim croaked out as she continued to cry.

"Katie is on our side, trust me. If she wasn't she would have come home with us last night and not let us have the time we need. She may be a lot younger than us, but she understands more about things than I do some times and you know that Jason and the others don't hold it against us. They would have made that clear last night. They have always been honest with us when it comes to things like this," Tommy said as Kim gave him a small smile.

"Well, Katie did make me feel a little bit better last night when I talked to her. I just wonder why we had to go through everything at once. What would have been the harm in waiting a few more hours?" Kim asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders and then moved over to the edge of the bed, with her tailing right behind him.

"Zordon seems to know that these battles are going to be coming much more frequently soon. I don't know if that means that we will be fighting today or next week, but it seems that he thinks it is important to know all the facts. I don't know if we can question his judgement. He knew what was best for us in the past and until he proves it differently, we'll all still listen to him, even when it doesn't make any sense," Tommy said as he picked Kim up off the bed and carried her out of his room.

"Tommy, I can walk," Kim said with a smile as he just looked at her and continued down the stairs. She might not be feeling the soreness but he was sure that she was sore as hell right now from everything that had happened last night and he wanted to prolong her figuring that out. "What's with you?"

"Kim, have you tried to walk yet?" Tommy asked, as Kim shook her head no and he then placed her on the ground at the bottom of the stairs. He knew that she was not going to last long, as he could only imagine how sore she really was.

"Oh my God," Kim moaned as pain seared through her and she found herself being held up by Tommy's arms. "Why does it hurt so much?"

"Whatever that machine was, obviously causes pain, which was aggravated by everything else," Tommy said as he walked her into the kitchen and she sat down at the table.

"Tommy? Kim? Is it safe to come in?" Katie yelled as she twisted the door open and then peaked around the first floor and saw them in the kitchen.

"Yeah, you're good," Kim said as Katie walked over and gave her a hug, which surprised both Kim and Tommy.

"Do you feel like hell?" Katie asked, as Kim nodded her head yes and Katie walked over and took the frying pan out of Tommy's hands, who was known to be a dangerous cook. "I'll cook. Conner has practice, so he had to drop me off earlier than I would have liked. Ya'll probably needed some more time, sorry I couldn't stay away longer."

"We're all right," Kim said as Tommy walked over to the coffeepot and turned it on. Both of them knew that he was more than competent to fix the coffee without the risk of burning down half the house. "Katie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot," Katie said as she began cooking breakfast.

"Do you know why they had to do that test last night?" Kim asked, as Katie just shook her head no. She was not brave enough to ask that of Zordon and none of the others were either.

"Zordon didn't tell us anything, actually he didn't say much to us at all after you went back, he just looked at things on the computer. I don't really know what he was doing, but he didn't want any help from us. The only one who might know why it had to be done then is Billy and I think he's pretty traumatized that he had to perform that test in the first place," Katie said, as Billy had not been himself when he walked back out.

"He can't be anymore traumatized than me," Kim said, as Katie nodded her head in agreement.

"I agree. Does it bother either of you that Zordon comes back and there just happen to be rangers here from Eltar? I mean, I had never heard his name until last night, but you have to admit it is odd that they are here now and he's back," Katie said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, it is, but you have to admit that the Dycon rangers did help us and from the looks of it they will continue to help us. They may have been sent here to try to find something out about Zordon too, but they're not leaving right away now that they've found him, so maybe we'll be okay," Tommy said as Katie just nodded.

"I think Anthony knows more than he's letting on," Katie said as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance.

"Why would you say that?" Kim asked, as Katie shrugged her shoulders.

"The way he looks at people. It's like he can tell what is going to happen to us next and he can't stop it. It's a curse and a blessing. The others have powers that help people, but his power is no help here, other than determining the sincerity of those that are around him," Katie said as a bright flash occurred in the kitchen and Jason landed there.

"How in the hell did I wind up here?" Jason asked as they all looked around and saw that Conner had been teleported in as well.

"What's happening?" Conner asked as he walked into the kitchen and Katie just started shaking her head.

"We have to get out of here, now," Katie said, urgently as they just nodded and sprinted out the front door, with Tommy grabbing his keys on the way out.

"Where are we going?" Tommy asked as Conner noticed Katie had gone into a daze again and looked like she was about to collapse.

"I don't know yet," Katie muttered as the other three looked at her and Conner just picked her up.

"Just do what she says. She saved both of our asses last time," Conner said as he placed her in Tommy's jeep and he then drove off down the driveway.

"School, Tommy," Katie said as Tommy looked back at her and then turned the wheel of his jeep towards Reefside. "Something's going on there."

"Is this what happened last time?" Jason asked, as Katie leaned against Conner, looking deathly pale but still very much alive.

"Yeah and I don't like it. It scares me every time it happens," Conner said as Tommy had floored it and he then looked down at his attire.

"Oh shit," Tommy said as they looked over at him. He was still in his boxers and a wife-beater and he was sure that if he showed up like that on school campus, his job would be out the window. "Kate, you're sure about school?"

"Yeah, but we'll have to morph before we get there. We'll be attacked before we can make it," Katie said as she passed out against Conner's chest and he began lightly shaking her in an attempt to wake her up.

"Come on, Katie, wake up, sweetie," Conner said, as Katie eyes fluttered open then closed again. "Katie! Katie, come on!"

"Hey Kate, wake up sweetheart," Tommy said, joining in on Conner's attempt to wake Katie up by reaching back and shaking her leg, but it was no use.

"Morph now," Katie muttered as they all looked at her and then did what she said and they were glad they had in the next few seconds as the dubons surrounded Tommy's jeep.

"Kim, stay here and try to wake her up. We'll take care of what we can without you," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head and started shaking Katie's shoulder while Tommy, Jason, and Conner dove out of the vehicle and began fighting the dubons.

"Come on, Katie. I know you want to wake up," Kim said as Katie jerked away and then released a powerful pulse that knocked Kim back several feet. "Katie, come on, wake up."

"I'll take it from here, Kimberly," Anthony said as he was teleported in and landed next to her. "They need you out there."

"Okay," Kim said as she stood up and jumped out of the jeep and quickly engaged in a battle with the nearest dubon.

"Katie, come on, wake up," Anthony whispered as he gently shook her shoulder and she merely jerked away from him, but she did not, however, send a pulse towards Anthony. He knew it was odd, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. "Come on, wake up. Kate, wake up."

"Uh, what happened?" Katie asked, rather startled that she awoke to Anthony sitting in front of her. She didn't remember him arriving there at all.

"You fainted, morph so you can help them," Anthony said as Katie reached from her morpher and quickly morphed. He soon joined in this action and jumped in the fight as well.

"Does anyone even know if we have weapons?" Conner asked as he was having a particularly hard time right now and would have done anything for a sword of some kind.

"No clue," Katie said as she cast her hands to the side and threw pulses at the dubons, who slowly stood back up and continued toward them. "I can hold them off for a little while, while you figure it out."

"Do that," Tommy said as he ran over to Conner, Jason, and Kim. "We have to have something that'll help us."

"What I wouldn't do to have a bow again," Kim said as a bow appeared in her hands and she looked down at it in shock. "Okay, that's weird."

"Staff," Tommy said as a staff appeared in his hands and he threw it up in the air and twirled it around to check the balance. "Nice."

"Sword," Jason said as a sword landed in his hands and he smiled under his helmet as he examined the edge.

"What's left?" Conner asked as they all shrugged. They had all gotten something that they had worked with in the past. "Okay, you're no help."

"Daggers," Katie said as she had a pair land in her hands and although she was still throwing out pulses, she had to admit that they were draining her a good bit.

"Axe," Conner said, hopefully and nothing landed in his hands.

"I guess we're just good guessers," Tommy said, as it was now obvious that they had to call out the correct weapon for themselves.

"Whip, Ball and Chain, Lance, Pitchfork, Sling blade," Conner said as nothing landed in his hands.

"Any day now would be nice, Conner," Anthony said as he and Katie were coming closer to the group of rangers trying to find their weapons and they both knew they could only hold out so much longer.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that," Katie said as she slashed one dubon and it oozed over her suit. "Gross."

"What's left?" Conner asked as they all shrugged their shoulders, knowing that it could be some weapon that they had never head of. So Conner, of course, tried the most common weapon known to the rangers. "Power blaster."

"Thank goodness," Katie said as they ran back towards the dubons and her and Anthony's load was released some. "It took you that long to figure out power blaster?"

"Hey, all of you took lucky guesses," Conner said, defensively, as Katie looked over at him and then threw another pulse towards the dubons.

"Let's finish these things off," Jason said as Katie looked at all of them, while she and Kimberly both threw their arms out and Katie was lifted into the air, while a ring of fire emerged from around Kimberly. The dubons that were not killed by the fire were destroyed by Katie's blast. "Well, that wasn't what I had in mind, but it works."

"Oh," Kim moaned as Katie landed next to her and they both curled up in balls on the ground. They were completely drained from their show of powers, not that it was not expected from what they had done.

"We need to get them to the Command Center," Anthony said as Tommy picked Kim up and Conner quickly picked Katie up.

"Zordon, what's happening?" Tommy asked as they landed and both Kim and Katie curled up even more in their arms.

"The powers of the Tinneanites are becoming more a part of you and as that happens you will all go through some pains," Zordon said as the males powered down and Zordon then powered down Kim and Katie. "Take them to the medical bay, they will recover in a few hours. Anthony, you stay with them, I need to talk to the others."

"Yes, Zordon," Anthony said as Tommy and Conner took Kim and Katie back to the medical bay and left them there before returning to Zordon.

"Rangers, I am afraid there is no time to make accommodations for your absences. Tommy, I know I am asking you to possibly lose your job, but if you will leave tomorrow for this mission, there is less of a chance that the three of you will go through these pains," Zordon said as they all nodded their heads. "So you accept the mission?"

"Of course, do we really have any other option?" Tommy asked, as Zordon shook his head no. "That's what I thought, just let me go get some things from home and I'll be set."

"I'm good already," Conner said as Zordon nodded his head.

"Is it only us or are the Dycon rangers going with us?" Jason asked, as Zordon looked over at Jason with a piercing stare.

"It will be only you. The Dycon rangers will not be able to survive in the environment that you are going to," Zordon said as they nodded and then looked at each other. They could not really risk any injury or pains in the five of them.

"But we'll be expected to travel to Eltar to help them?" Tommy asked, as Zordon simply nodded his head yes and they accepted the condition.

"You will have an hour to collect your belongings, I suggest you do so quickly as I will be teleporting you back in a an hour. Tommy collect everything for Kimberly and Katie as well, I am afraid that they will not be leaving the medical bay within the next hour," Zordon said as they all nodded their heads and then felt themselves being pulled off into other places. "Rangers, I do wish that I was not the one to have to send you on this mission."

AN: That's all for this chapter! I hope that you have enjoyed it and let me know what you think about it, the good and the bad. Toodles!


	26. Waking Up

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, and the planet Denlar.

"Hayley," Jason said as he landed at her house. He had stopped by his own to pick up some things, but he knew that he had to see her before he left. He couldn't just leave and not tell her about it. She was all that he had to come home to now and he needed to let her know everything that was going on.

"What are you doing here?" Hayley asked as she walked out of her bedroom, clutching something in her hand. She was honestly lucky that she didn't faint from seeing him in her home so unexpectedly. "Jase, what's going on?"

"I don't have a long time to tell you Hayley, but we're having to leave sooner than we thought we would," Jason said as he walked over to her and noticed that she was purposely avoiding his gaze. "Hayley, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Jase, you just need to go and not worry about me," Hayley said as Jason dropped his bag and pulled her over to him. What had happened to cause her to act like this? What wasn't she telling him?

"What's going on?" Jason asked as he pulled her over to the couch and made her sit down in his lap.

"You really just need to go do your job," Hayley said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and then straightened his shirt.

"Hayley, tell me," Jason said, gently, as Hayley looked away from him again and he then turned her face back to face him. "Please, I can't stay here much longer and I need to know."

"I'm pregnant, Jason," Hayley whispered as Jason looked at her in shock. This was not the sort of news he had expected to hear from her.

"Hayley..." Jason murmured as he gave her a hug and she tried to hold herself together. "How long have you known?"

"I just passed the test, but I've been feeling bad for the last week. I didn't think that this would happen, Jase. I'm sorry," Hayley said as she pulled away from him and went to her room.

"Hayley, I'm not mad at you," Jason said as he followed her into her room and gave her a hug. He knew he was going to have to be a little bit late. He had to look after Hayley first.

_Anthony's POV_

As I sit here and monitor these rangers, I realize that our sacrifice now seems so small in comparison to what they have had to give up. Tommy and Kimberly have lost all privacy in their relationship, while Keema and I have been able to do as we wish without our friends and families intruding. Also, I can never remember one of us being down enough to have to be placed on a stretcher for any period of time, other than for our yearly exams.

"Where am I?" Katie asked as Anthony looked up from the book he was reading and smiled. He had expected that they wouldn't have a clue about where they were or how they got here and he hoped to be able to fill them in.

"At the Command Center," Anthony said as Katie sat up and looked around, expecting Conner or Tommy to be in there, but they were no where to be found. Anthony could see the question forming in her eyes and just shook his head. "They have gone to gather your belongings, you'll be leaving tomorrow."

"We'll be doing what?" Katie asked as Kim rolled over and nearly fell off the narrow stretcher before catching herself and then falling back to sleep.

"Shh, don't wake her. She needs to rest after your exhibit of power today," Anthony said as Katie gave him a confused look. "Don't you remember any of it?"

"No, if you wouldn't mind clueing me in, it would help a lot," Katie said as she slipped off the stretcher and went to sit down in an empty chair as she hated to feel as if she was in a hospital.

"You and Kim took out a whole force of dubons by yourselves, not that that's unexpected with these powers that you carry; it's just not recommended," Anthony said, as Katie just sat there, dumbfounded.

"How? I blacked out before the battle even began, Tony," Katie said as Anthony now looked at her and realized that she remembered none of it. She didn't remember waking up or morphing or battling or anything else that had happened. How could that be possible?

"You don't remember anything?" Anthony asked, as Katie nodded her head yes and Anthony pondered her for a little longer to see if she might be trying to hide something that only she remembered, but she wasn't. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, the last thing I remember is looking up at Conner and then going back out," Katie said, as Anthony was now the one sitting there in confusion.

"But you fought. You did all of those things, you even called out a new weapon. How can you not remember it?" Anthony asked as Katie just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know why I can't remember, but I'm fine, nothing happened to me," Katie said as Kim woke up and looked around.

"I'm not doing that again. I've never maxed out my powers like that before, even when I was young and foolish," Kim muttered as Anthony gave her a sympathetic look and then helped her sit up.

"That's what we did? We maxed out our powers?" Katie asked, as Kim nodded. She was certain of that much, she had never experienced it like this, but she knew that was what it had to be because of watching Tommy.

"Don't you remember?" Kim asked, as Katie just shook her head no and she decided she was not going to even worry herself with trying to figure out how that could be possible. There were many more things that were unexplainable that she should worry about instead. "Anthony, where are the others?"

"They went to gather your belongings," Anthony said as Kim jumped up and started shaking her head no.

"We're not supposed to go anywhere until the twentieth. Zordon said that yesterday," Kim, literally, yelled as Anthony shrank back and Kim took another couple of steps forward, gaining more power with each step. "Why in the world are we leaving now?"

"I'm not sure. You'll have to ask Zordon. He told me nothing, I'm sorry about that Kim," Anthony said, as Katie sized him up and then went in for her own attack.

"Anthony, you know you know his reasons. Please tell us. We need an explanation for why the hell we are leaving now, instead of when he promised us," Katie said as Anthony backed back several more steps and found the cold steel wall on his back. He knew that he was in for it now that they could keep him in one place and he just hoped that he could put his mind in a peaceful place while they battered him.

"Zordon will tell you if he sees it fit. It is not my business to tell any of you this," Anthony said as Katie and Kim looked at each other then glared at him. "No, please don't do that."

"What are we doing?" Kim asked, innocently, as Tommy hit the button to open the medical bay doors and Anthony fell out while Kim and Katie jumped on him.

"Um…would someone mind telling me what's going on?" Tommy asked the jumbled heap known as Kim, Katie, and Anthony. Poor Anthony was being mercilessly tickled by the both of them as they tried to get an answer out of him, which made it impossible for him to respond to Tommy's question.

"I give, I give! I'll tell you," Anthony pleaded, breathlessly, as Kim and Katie crawled off him and he leapt up and ran off.

"I'm gonna kill him," Katie said as Conner made a grab for her and missed, while Tommy managed to hold Kim in place.

"Katie's enough, Kim. The poor guy will spill his deepest secrets to her by the time she's through with him," Tommy said, as Conner decided that it was no use trying to catch up with her. If Katie was determined, then there was nothing he could do to stop her from doing whatever she had on her mind. "Let's go get good seats for the show."

"Okay," Conner said as they walked up the hall and then sat down on the couch.

"Zordon, please explain to them why," Anthony begged as Katie stormed around the corner, while Anthony was begging Zordon.

"Anthony, it is not for them to know. Did Katie figure out your ability?" Zordon asked, calmly, as Katie pounced on Anthony, which managed to muffle his reply.

"Yes," Anthony said as he managed to roll Katie off and pinned her to the ground as he felt his back tighten from the two unexpected attacks. "You have to stop doing that."

"You lied. You said you would tell us and that is what we expected. Our lives have been ripped apart as is. We deserve an honest answer about this," Katie spat as the Dycon rangers walked in on the peculiar scene and quickly joined Kim, Tommy, and Conner.

"I'm starting to wonder if Anthony might have an affair," Keema said as Alexa laughed.

"Yeah, that's about as likely as my dating either of them," Alexa said as Win and Daniel fake pouted. The three of them all had someone special on Eltar, so it didn't really daze them any and they often joked around about dating each other.

"Hey, do any of you know what this is about?" Win asked as Anthony and Katie continued to bicker, as Zordon did the tasks at hand without acknowledging them.

"Yeah, Anthony won't tell Katie why we have to leave so soon," Kim said as she wished that they would have held him down longer, they might have gotten an answer out of him then.

"He's hard to break," Keema said as Jason was teleported in and looked directly over at the commotion as they rolled into the panels and then back away from Zordon.

"Will the two of you please grow up? We've got work to do," Jason said as Katie glared at him and then went back to wrestling with Anthony.

"Tell me!" Katie demanded as she finally threw Anthony off and managed to pin him firmly to the ground.

"Katie, I can't," Anthony sad as he reached up and gently pried her hands off one wrist at a time.

"And in all honesty, it is far better left unsaid," Zordon said as Katie and Anthony finally looked around and saw the other rangers, rather amused on the couch.

"This doesn't look good, does it?" Katie asked as she was straddling his legs.

"No, it doesn't," Anthony said, but neither of them felt like moving, as they were just a tad bit exhausted from their wrestling match.

"You know that they have absolutely no embarrassment," Conner muttered to Keema as she smiled. That's just the way Anthony had always been and she felt that Katie was the same way.

"I know, but we love them for that, even if it does make you wonder about them some times," Keema said as Katie finally rolled off Anthony and then stood up.

"We never need to do that again," Anthony said as he rubbed a sore spot on his back and then groaned as he stood up and straightened out his back. "What do they teach you here?"

"He's my brother," Katie said, pointing to Tommy. "What do you think I've been taught?"

"I get the point," Anthony said, as Zordon looked over at the two of them, rather amused.

"Anthony, do you mind briefing them on where they will be going? I have some more procedures that need to be done here," Zordon said as Anthony was in deep concentration, examining his elbow.

"Anthony, did you hear him?" Keema asked as he looked up and then looked at Zordon, with a puzzled expression. He hadn't even realized that Zordon was talking to him in the first place.

"Do you mind briefing them?" Zordon asked, again, with a slight bit of impatience evident in his voice.

"Not at all, come with me," Anthony said as they stood up and followed him, further within the Command Center.

"Tommy, I don't know if we should do this," Jason said in a hurried whisper as Tommy looked at him. For the first time in several years, Jason seemed to be truly worried and he couldn't think of anything that would make him be that way.

"Why shouldn't we? Come on, the both of us know that the sooner we do this the better it will be for all of us," Tommy said as Jason just shook his head.

"It's just the timing," Jason said as Tommy gave him a critical look.

"What's going on to make the timing so bad?" Tommy asked, cutting out all of the bullshit that they could possibly go through before they got around to the really important stuff.

"It's personal. I have to worry about it on my own," Jason said as Tommy nodded that he understood as they sat down in the lounge area. He had had times when he didn't feel that he could tell anyone anything about what was going on in his life and it seemed that it was Jason's time now.

"Okay, the mission before you is on a planet known as Denlar, just beyond the outer reaches of this universe. That is where Belstan bases his army of dubons and that is where you are most likely to find him. He will have a considerable amount of power there, but if none of you lose your heads, your powers should be sufficient enough to take care of any problem that you face there," Anthony said as they nodded their heads.

"But what's the catch?" Katie asked, as Anthony looked down at the floor. "Come on, we all know that it is not going to be that easy."

"You will have no support from Earth while you are there. There will be no way to contact the Command Center until you have defeated Belstan," Anthony said, as Jason now looked up at him.

"We won't have any transmissions from here?" Jason asked, as Anthony nodded his head yes and Jason then placed his face in his hands.

"Jase, what's going on?" Kim asked, as Jason just shook his head.

"It's not anything that is important to you. It's just something I have to deal with on my own," Jason said as he swallowed and then stood to leave the room. "I just need some time alone."

"What's with him?" Conner asked as they all just shrugged their shoulders.

"Tommy, what, exactly, did he say to you while you were walking in here?" Katie asked, as Tommy didn't know how that would help any, but telling her wouldn't hurt anything.

"He said that the timing was bad. That's all that I could really get out of him," Tommy said as Katie stood up and headed towards the door. "Whoa, Kate, you don't want to go talk to him right now. He's in one of those moods where you don't want to get within striking distance."

"You're right, I'm not going to talk to him. I am going to go contact Hayley," Katie said as they all exchanged confused glances. What did Hayley have to do with any of this?

"Is she this confusing all the time?" Anthony asked, as Conner and Tommy nodded their heads yes.

"But I don't try to stop her. When she has a hunch, she usually is onto something that actually deals with the situation at hand," Tommy said as he stood up. "Now, tell me all you know about this Denlar place. I think that it is going to be pretty important for us to find out all we can."

AN: I know, I still have a whole lot to explain that I began in this chapter, but that is what the next chapter is for. Tell me what you think about it, the good and the bad. Toodles!


	27. Jason's New Business

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, and the planet Denlar.

_Jason's POV_

It's a wonder how your life can change so quickly. Only yesterday, I was happy to see Zordon again and just glad to be a ranger under his mentorship again. Today, I feel something quite different. I've gotten news that I never expected to hear while under these circumstances. It's not that it is bad news, it's actually something that I'm pretty happy about, but I have no time to do what I need to do and I'm leaving her here alone, knowing I might never come back.

That is what I really don't want to do. I know that the others will be around, but knowing Hayley, she won't speak of it to them. It is too personal for her to share without some guarantee that I'll be back. Hell, she barely said anything to me about it, but she forced it out of herself when she found out that I am leaving tomorrow morning. I don't like thinking that I might never come back and that she'll have to be here, alone to deal with something that the both of us caused.

"Zordon, where's the phone?" Katie asked as Zordon turned and looked at her.

"There is no need for a telephone, Katie. All the people you need to contact have communicators," Zordon said, as Katie shook her head no, from what she knew Hayley had never been given a communicator. "No? Well who do you need to talk to?"

"Hayley," Katie said as Zordon looked at her and then sighed.

She, unlike the others, was not willing to allow Jason to mope about whatever was going on. To a point, he wished she was like that because the news was not all that pleasant to deal with now, but he also knew that Jason needed a release that he was not afraid to talk to and he was likely to be afraid to talk to Katie.

"It is in the medical bay. Billy installed it ages ago in case an injury was ever bad enough that we had to get some sort of ambulance close to the Command Center," Zordon said, as Katie nodded and then ran off.

"Hello," Hayley said as she picked up the phone and tried to make herself sound like she was in a normal mood and had not been crying for the past hour. She didn't know what she would do if Jason didn't come back. She didn't know how she would be able to live with herself if that happened.

"Hey, Hayley, it's Katie," Katie said as she heard Hayley sniff and then waited for her to say something.

"What's going on Katie?" Hayley asked as Katie inwardly laughed on the other end of the phone. Why was Hayley trying so hard to put up a front for her? Even Tommy would have known that it was a false front and would have become suspicious. For her it just helped make her more certain that Jason's problem had to do with Hayley and no one else.

"No show for me, Hayley. I need to know the truth and you can't tell me that you are happy that Jason is leaving," Katie said, as Hayley took a deep breath. Why did the perceptive one have to be the one that called her tonight? Why couldn't it have been Tommy, who she could have talked this off to as PMS?

"You're right, I want him to be here, but it's his job and he has to do it. I respect that too much to ask anything of him right now," Hayley said, rather steadily, as she walked into her living room and sat down.

"So why doesn't he want to do it? If you're not asking anything of him?" Katie asked, as Hayley sat on the other end of the phone in silence. There was no way to tell Katie this without Tommy finding out and she, quite frankly, didn't want to have to deal with a phone call from him right now. "Hayley, we need to know."

"No you don't. It's personal and it has nothing to do with his ranger work. He'll be fine, he'll make sure that he comes back," Hayley said, through gritted teeth, as Katie started racking her memory bank for anything that might be a clue to what was going on, so she could ask point-blank and stop all this dancing around the subject.

"But will you be fine?" Katie asked, as Hayley sighed. Katie knew that she didn't sound like she was going to be fine when Jason left, but that still didn't make it to where she could figure out what was going on.

"I'll find a way, Kate. I always do and this isn't the first time I've had someone have to leave me when I'm in need," Hayley said, as Katie just nodded her own head while keeping quiet.

"You're not helping, are you?" Katie asked as Hayley looked around her living room. She had promised Jason just an hour ago that she wouldn't put herself in the added danger by helping them, but it would keep her sane. She needed to do that right now, for everyone's sake, but she was not going to because she promised him. However, she knew it would raise some odd questions if they asked for her help.

"I promised I wouldn't," Hayley said with a half laugh escaping her lips. "Funny how the things that you once depended on can be taken away so quickly."

"Why would you have to promise that you wouldn't help?" Katie asked, as there were only a few things that flashed in her mind that would make Jason make Hayley do that. No, they weren't really a couple, but there was enough there that they respected what the other asked very much.

"Situations arise," Hayley said as she tossed a home pregnancy test in the trash can and then laid back down on the couch and closed her eyes. She needed to find some inner peace within herself that everything was going to be fine, even if Jason didn't come back, but she was having a very hard time doing that right now. She could not imagine losing him and having to do all of this alone. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"I don't think that Jason believes that right now," Katie said as Hayley smiled to herself. She was sure that Jason didn't believe that right now, but there was no need in confirming Katie's belief. She would do enough of that on her own when she went to talk with Jason.

"Katie, I'm really tired and since this conversation is going no where fast, please let me go get some sleep," Hayley said as Katie tapped her foot on the steel floor. She didn't want to let her go, but she also knew better than to press her luck. Hayley was not going to open up to her about this one, no matter how hard she tried.

"Can you just tell me why Jason is like this?" Katie asked, point blank, as she could hear Hayley shaking her head no on the other end.

"I can't. It's really the best that none of you have to deal with it as well," Hayley said as Katie sighed. She knew that if she only had some more time she could crack Hayley, but she also knew better than to make her mad. Then she would surely not be able to get any type of answer out of her.

"Okay, bye," Katie said as she resigned herself to having to face Jason, which she was sure was not going to be a very pretty thing to have to deal with.

"Bye," Hayley said and then she hung up the phone with a smart click.

"What did you find out?" Tommy asked as Katie walked back in the room and grabbed her own jacket and another one that had been laid across a chair. "Katie, you really don't want to go out there and talk to him. He's not going to be in a good mood."

"I don't think we have much of a choice about talking to him about whatever it is that is going on. Hayley's not budging on whatever it is and he has to have his brain back by tomorrow. And get this, he made Hayley promise that she wouldn't help, at all. You can't tell me that nothing is going on, something has to be and I'm going to get to the bottom of it," Katie said as she slipped on her jacket and just looked at Tommy, daring him to tell her not to go talk to him again.

"Why would he make Hayley promise not to help?" Conner asked, as Tommy shrugged his shoulders.

He could definitely think of some reasons, but he didn't want to hear any of those come out of Jason's mouth right now. The stress of knowing anything of that magnitude would be enough to make someone mad when they knew that they might never come back home.

"Katie, you better let me go out there," Tommy said, as Katie shook her head no and continued towards the door. "I've known him longer and I should be able to get it out of him without risking injury."

"Just let me try and if it doesn't work then you are free to try it yourself," Katie said as she turned and walked out the door.

"She better be right about this hunch or Jason's going to kick her ass," Tommy said as he sat down and Kim placed her arm around him.

"She knows the risks, Tommy. Trust her that she can deal with the consequences and she seems to have an idea of where this is headed. The rest of us are pretty clueless from what I can tell," Kim said as Tommy nodded and looked over at Conner, who had been rather silent.

"What do you think?" Tommy asked, as Conner just shook his head.

"I think we're in for some news that we need to know, but don't want to know," Conner said as he stood up and walked out of the room.

---------------------------------

"Who's there?" Jason asked, spinning around as he heard footsteps on the roof.

"It's just me, Katie, I brought you a jacket," Katie said as she walked up beside him and held it out.

"Thanks," Jason said as he slipped it on and gazed away from her, hoping that she would leave him to battle his own thoughts in peace.

"I talked to Hayley," Katie said, as Jason looked over at her, searching her face to see if she knew their secret, but she didn't. He didn't know how Hayley managed to keep Katie from finding out, but he was glad, in a way. Yet, she must not have given up on it if she was standing in front of him right now. "She didn't tell me anything, but Jason, we need to know."

"It has nothing to do with any of you," Jason said, with a tinge of anger in his voice.

"No need to get pissed off with me, Jason. I'm just telling you what we all need. None of us can really deal with you not having your head on your shoulders and it's not there right now. I don't know where it is, but it is not here with us," Katie said as Jason looked over at her. Boy, was she stubborn.

"Katie, it's our personal business and I don't think that you should know any of it. It's enough that you suspect something," Jason said as Katie looked over at him.

"You're right, we shouldn't know if it doesn't affect us, but this does. I don't know what it is that has gotten you so stressed, but whatever it is has. All we want to do is help," Katie said as Jason took a few steps away from her.

"You can't help," Jason whispered as he walked further away. "We got ourselves into this on our own."

"Well who says you have to get yourselves out of it on your own?" Katie asked, as Jason looked over at her and she suddenly realized how tired he looked. "We're a team."

"Katie, it's not as simple as flicking a switch or anything like that. We have a commitment sitting in front of us right now and I don't like thinking about the fact that I may not come back to do that what needs to be done," Jason said as Katie nodded and then a little light bulb went off in her head and Jason could see it in her eyes.

"Please tell me that I'm wrong," Katie said as Jason looked down at the ground and then looked away from her. He couldn't lie to her about it when it was painted all across his face now. He had just hoped that none of them would figure it out. "Jason, tell me that she's not."

"I can't tell you that, Katie," Jason said as Katie stood there in front of him with her mouth wide open, just staring.

"You need to tell Tommy, if that's the only person that you tell. He'll, at least, be sympathetic and he may have some idea that could help you," Katie said as Jason just shook his head.

"I'm not going to and from how you're talking you're not going to tell him that she's pregnant either," Jason said as Katie nodded her head that she was not going to. She couldn't imagine having that discussion with her brother after the events of the past two days. "Tommy doesn't need any more worry placed on his shoulders. He has you and Kim and that's enough for one man to have to worry about."

"But Jason, he's your friend and he'd be one of the first people you would tell if we were not under these circumstances," Katie said as Jason sat down and patted the patch of metal next to him.

"This is not a normal circumstance though, Katie. I can't tell him because he'll worry about it too and he needs to have as clear a head as he can. Mine is going to be boggled enough," Jason said as Katie nodded. "Your brother is notorious for worrying and I can't put any more worry on him than what is already self-inflicted."

"Yeah, but he would probably be glad to take some of the worry," Katie said as Jason just shook his head.

"He can't take some of the worry away about this. It's not the woman he loves or his child at stake, it's mine and no matter how much he worries, it won't relieve any of my worrying," Jason said as Katie sighed and then gave Jason a hug.

"Take all the time you need, I'll keep them out of your way, if I can," Katie said as Jason smiled and she stood up.

"Well, Tommy will probably try to barge up here when you tell him that you can't tell him anything, but I can handle him," Jason said as Katie smiled and then turned to leave.

"Jason, don't stay up here too long. We're probably going to have to go through some sort of something before we leave," Katie said as Jason nodded and she then turned and went down the ladder without anything else to say.

---------------------------------

"What did he say?" Tommy asked as Katie just shook her head and sat down in a chair. She didn't know how she was going to get around not saying anything about it to Tommy. "Katie, it's obvious that he told you something."

"I can't say what it is, just trust me that he's going to be fine," Katie said as Kim and Tommy looked at her and then sighed. They knew that if Jason had made her promise not to tell, then she was not going to tell, anyone.

"Okay, Kate," Tommy said as he stood and walked over and gave her a hug. "We're going to go up to the front of the Command Center and if you see Conner wandering around anywhere, just tell him where we are."

"Okay," Katie said as she smiled at him and waited until he had gone through the doors to let her shoulders sag and tears flow from her eyes. "This makes no sense."

"You're right, it doesn't," Anthony said as he stood up and walked over to her. Katie had thought that she was entirely alone in the room, but Anthony sunk so well into the background that she had not noticed him.

"You know, don't you?" Katie asked, as Anthony nodded his head yes.

"I knew when I first saw her, but I don't like to flaunt my ability," Anthony said as he placed an arm around Katie and she slumped against him. "Everything will turn out fine."

"Easy for you to say, you aren't leaving tomorrow to go fight," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head in agreement.

"You're right, but I have my own worries. Eltar is not doing well at the moment and once you get back we will head to Eltar, to try to save the planet," Anthony said as Katie nodded. She wanted to believe him that everything was going to be fine, but she had this sinking feeling that things were going to go bad, quickly. "Katie, it is not for you to worry about. We will be doing plenty of that here."

"I'm sure you will," Katie said as Conner walked in and sat down on the other side of Katie.

"She's pregnant, isn't she?" Conner asked, bluntly, as Anthony and Katie both stared at him.

"How did you figure that out?" Katie asked as Conner shrugged his shoulders.

"I thought about it. We all knew that they were sleeping with each other and if they didn't decide to cut that off, then what else goes along with that," Conner said as Katie shook her head.

"You are a lot smarter than my brother ever gave you credit for," Katie said as he just shook his head.

"I figured you would say something like that. Come on, we need to get some rest if we are going to be able to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow," Conner said as Katie stood up and then gave Anthony a hug.

"Thanks for listening," Katie said as Anthony nodded and watched them leave.

"You're becoming attached, aren't you?" Keema asked, as she snuck up behind Anthony and placed her arms around him.

"Yes, I am," Anthony said as he gave her a kiss and then sighed. "They have so much more to worry about than we do."

"I'm not sure if I can agree with you on that point, my dear, but they do have a lot to deal with," Keema said as Anthony nodded his head. "Are you going to come sleep tonight?"

"I will in a little bit, I just need to clear my mind," Anthony said as Keema nodded and Anthony watched her leave the room to let him perform his little ritual of mind clearing. He knew that it was going to be extremely important over the next few days to have his ability at its peak and that was going to mean a lot of time away from the others, so that he would be able to concentrate on what was going on, on other planets.

AN: I hope that you like it and tell me what you think! I'll have the next chapter out as soon as the idea sparks in my mind. Toodles!


	28. Leaving

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, and the planet Denlar.

"Morning," Conner said, as he had assumed that he would be one of the last people to wake up. Katie was known to wake up early, so he thought at the very least she would be awake. He was very wrong this morning all of them had had a sleepless night and were finally comfortable on the floor.

"Ah!" Katie yelled as she jumped awake while Kim and Tommy jerked awake as well from the sudden commotion in the room.

"Sorry," Conner said as the three of them glared at him and then decided that they were going to stay awake instead of trying to fall back to sleep. It took to long to get themselves comfortable enough to fall asleep on the floor. "I thought all of you would be awake by now."

"Where's Jason?" Katie asked as Tommy, silently, rose to his feet and padded towards the door. He had the feeling that Jason had not come in at all last night and he hated knowing that he was going to have to search the Command Center in order to find him this early in the morning.

"I'll find him," Tommy yawned as Kim and Katie both laughed at him.

"You know he just wishes to get away from us for a little while," Kim said, as Katie shook her head in disagreement. "What do you think it is, then? You can't tell me that he just leaps out of bed in the morning."

"He wants to find out what Jason is hiding. You know it bothers him that I know what it is and he doesn't," Katie said as Kim laughed.

"He is not awake enough to think of something like that, yet," Kim said as Anthony and Keema walked into the room, thinking that it was empty.

"Anthony, he knows the risks. Don't worry about him, he's been a ranger before," Keema said as Anthony just shook his head.

"He's not the one I worry about. I worry about her. She shouldn't be left without the other rangers that are staying knowing the situation, just in case something does happen," Anthony said as Katie coughed, rather loudly and he looked over at them, rather startled that they were in there.

"What is going on?" Kim asked, as Anthony just shook his head and cringed. He did not think that he could really avoid Kimberly's stare right now, but he had to try right now. "Tony, what do you know?"

"He can't tell you about it. He's not even supposed to know," Katie said as Kim looked at her. Why would she know something that Anthony knew?

"This has to do with Jason, right?" Kim asked as they both nodded their heads yes.

"He made me promises not to say anything," Katie said as Kim could only nod. She knew Katie wouldn't break that promise, although it all took some time to understand. This was having an effect on them. Why wasn't she saying anything to them at all about it?

"And he doesn't know that I know anything about it," Anthony said as Kim just looked at him.

---------------------------------

"Jason? What are you doing here? I thought you would have left already," Hayley said as he landed in her bedroom and she slowly crawled out of bed to truly greet him. She hadn't been expecting him to come back after last night until the mission was over, but she was happy to see him.

"I had to see you before I left," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head and gave him a hug.

"You saw me yesterday, I thought that would be enough for you," Hayley said as Jason looked down at her and continued to hold her tightly in his arms. "Jason you are going to have to leave soon or Tommy will come looking for you here. It's not that I'm not happy you're here, but you have so much more to worry about."

"I know, don't remind me so soon about it all. I just want you to be taken care of you," Jason said as she looked up at him and saw the tears in his eyes.

He had cried around her a few times, but it had never been because of her. It usually was when something happened that reminded him of Trini or it was her birthday or their anniversary. She knew how much he had loved her and she understood why things couldn't get serious quickly, but they were suddenly very serious for the two of them. She just didn't know how Jason was going to be able to take it right now. He had so much stress on him already and she was afraid to push him over the edge. They had been dancing around about getting more serious and now they suddenly had to get much more serious.

"Jason, I can't take you crying as well," Hayley whispered as the tears began to fall.

"Listen, I need you to come back with me to the Command Center. We can't risk Belstan finding out about you and the baby," Jason said as Hayley nodded and walked over to her closet to grab some clothes. "You don't have time for that now. Billy will bring you back here to get some clothes later. We just need to get you out of this house as quickly as possible."

"Okay," Hayley said as he grabbed her hand and then pressed his communicator to teleport them away.

"I'm glad you decided to let her stay here," Zordon said as Hayley looked and saw Billy was there as well. "Aisha, Zack, and Kat will be arriving shortly. They are going to be coming in and out as to try to keep down suspicion."

"Hey," Billy said with a smile as Hayley gave Jason another hug and he then walked out of the main chamber to go find the others. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, right now I'm fine," Hayley said as Billy nodded.

"He told me," Billy said as Hayley nodded then allowed Billy to slip an arm around her. "Just let me know if you don't feel good. You don't need to be overstressed and don't do anything that you don't want to do. We can handle it around here."

---------------------------------

"Where have you been?" Tommy asked as he stalked towards Jason, in his boxers and Jason couldn't help but laugh.

"I went to get Hayley. It's not safe to leave her alone in Reefside right now," Jason said as he tried to stop himself from laughing at Tommy, but failed.

"Nothing is funny, Jason," Tommy said as Jason could only smile. "Did you even get any sleep last night?"

"A little bit, but don't worry about me," Jason said as Tommy looked at him while Jason walked past him. "Find some clothes Tommy. I'm sure that Katie would appreciate it."

"Just shut up," Tommy said as Jason ran on back to their sleeping quarters and met Kim in passing.

"Jason, what are you doing?" Conner asked as Jason picked up his bag and signaled for Conner to do the same.

"We'll be leaving soon. There is not much you can do but gather your stuff and get ready," Jason said as Conner looked over at him.

"This is going to be pure hell, I hope you understand that," Conner said as he picked up his bag and Jason looked over at him.

"It is going to be more hell for me than the rest of you, but the faster this is over the faster we will be able to get back here. Eltar is in a far worse state than we really know and I don't know how much we will do there. Billy is not too hopeful," Jason said as Conner could only nod.

"You never like to hear that before you go somewhere," Conner said as Jason nodded his head, but he had to be realistic about what was out there to face them.

"I know, that's why I haven't said anything to Kim, Tommy, or Katie. The three of them are likely to have a mental breakdown any day now," Jason said as Conner nodded his head in agreement.

"How long do you think this will take?" Conner asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd like to say it would only take a couple of days, but we could be there for weeks, you know how it is," Jason said as Conner shook his head no. "How can you not know?"

"Our last battle took two hours to complete. We even went to school the next day and everything. It is a little bit different from this. I guess this is the hard core stuff that Dr. O talked about with us," Conner said as Jason nodded his head yes.

"Hard core is definitely one word I would use for it. Listen, our bags are just going to be placed in the locker room we have here. Forgive Billy if there is anything left in the blue locker. It's been a long time since any of us have been here and I don't remember if we ever came here and cleared out the lockers," Jason said as he directed Conner towards the old locker room and he smiled when he entered. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah," Conner said as he walked over to the blue locker and ran his fingers over the outside and collected a nice layer of dust on his fingertips.

"I'm going to go get the others and then we will have to leave. Zordon is going to try to teleport us to the planet during their dead of night, which means we only have a few more hours to manage that," Jason said as Conner loaded his bag into his locker and then looked around the room. It seemed odd to him that this Command Center had held so many rangers and yet, this locker room only held one locker for each color, not a locker for each ranger. He could only assume that would make the room huge, but he was not going to question Jason at the moment.

"Jason...why in the world are we doing this now?" Kim asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders and Kim gave Tommy a look, which caused him to shrug his shoulders as well. He didn't know anything that Jason didn't know about what was going on.

"Put your things in the locker room and then join me back here. We have a lot to be done," Jason said, as Katie just shook her head at him.

"Kate, don't say whatever you are thinking. The last thing we need is for Jason to go crazy on us right now," Tommy whispered as Katie nodded her head and Kim smiled at the two of them. They understood each other far too well and although that made her wish Tommy was able to do that with her she knew that he would eventually get back to that.

"That's scary," Kim said as the two of them looked at her, wondering what exactly she was talking about. They hadn't done anything really weird for them.

"Do you think that Jason is going crazy himself?" Katie asked as Tommy just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out," Tommy said as they entered the locker room and saw Conner sitting on one of the benches. "We're just dropping things off Conner. Come on, I'm sure that Jason wants you to come with us as well."

"We need some things, don't we?" Kim asked, as they walked into the central room and Zordon called their attention to him.

"Nothing goes with you on this mission, Kimberly," Zordon said as they nodded and looked around the Command Center for some clue to how they were going to get there. Jason had told them teleportation, but they didn't want to believe it. "I will be teleporting you momentarily."

"Whoa, we're leaving right now?" Katie asked as Zordon nodded his head and they all looked at each other.

"Yes, you shall arrive in the dead of night, my children. Now, you shall go," Zordon said as he pressed the teleportation keys before anything else could be said. "Billy, I need rest. I shall be back soon, but if there is a problem, call and I shall come."

"Yes Zordon," Billy said as he looked over at Hayley who looked fairly faint. "Go rest yourself, Hayley. I don't need any reason to tell Jason that something is wrong with you."

"I'm fine. I've just never seen them go so quickly," Hayley said as Billy nodded.

"That is what Zordon does to us. We move, we go, we do. Since he ultimately commands us, you ask no other questions. Other ranger teams have been different, but this is normal for the older rangers," Billy said as Hayley sat down to try to steady her thinking.

"How much are they being asked to do?" Hayley asked tiredly as Billy shrugged.

"I'm not sure even Zordon knows the answer to that," Billy said as Hayley just nodded. He then turned to look at the monitors. It was going to be a very long time for all of them as they waited for their rangers to return.

AN: I know it has been a long time since I've gotten out a chapter, but I've been going back and doing some little revisions, along with school, so I'm sorry it has taken so long. I hope you like it!


	29. Noticing Differences

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, and Kasi Freedmon.

_Angelina's POV_

Odd things have been happening around Reefside again, not that it was unexpected after having a set of rangers here. Look at what happened to Angel Grove, but this time it seems worse for all of us. But what has been going on with monsters is not even the oddest thing that is going on around here. Dr. O has suddenly disappeared, along with Katie and I don't know where they could possibly be. It's not like him to just leave and not have any explanation for it. He usually would tell us when he was going on vacation or something like that, but this doesn't seem like a planned vacation or a vacation at all.

I'm worried that something has happened to them and I'm not the only one. Although Andie and Dr. O broke up, I can tell it's bothering her that he hasn't been to work in the last three days and he hasn't even bothered to call to explain himself. We all know that Dr. O can be a tad bit forgetful, but this doesn't seem anything like the forgetfulness he usually suffers from. Although, I can't really say what it seems like, I've never seen anything like this happen before.

"Lina! Hey Angelina!" Garrett yelled as he saw her walking down the hall and she stopped when she finally heard him shouting. He had been trying to catch up with her for the past five minutes, but she seemed to be out of it today.

"Hey, Garrett. How you doing?" Angelina asked as Garrett grabbed a couple of her books and they walked out into the break area.

"Okay, but I got a question. Do you have any idea where Dr. O is? The dojo looks abandoned and the new gymnastics center next to it is not much better. I know that Dr. O knows the lady, but that doesn't explain why she's here not been around. What's going on around here?" Garrett asked as they sat down at a table and Angelina sighed.

"I don't know, I've been calling their house for the last few days and all I get is the answering machine," Angelina said as they heard a loud clap of thunder from the blue-sky overhead and then went back to their conversation. They had gotten used to the odd happenings during the last rangers' stay, so it was not hard to readjust to it. "Weird things are happening around here."

"Yeah, you can say that again. The last time stuff like this happened we had a ranger team walking around, though," Garrett said as Angelina nodded.

"Dr. O was pretty scarce when that happened too," Angelina mentioned as Garrett looked at her and they had the same thought. What if Dr. O was a ranger? It wasn't completely out of the question. He did have quite a few factors stacked against him, but why hadn't they ever noticed it before? "He couldn't be. We'd know. It would be pretty obvious if a teacher was a ranger."

"What's to say he's not a ranger? They have to be good at keeping their real identities secret. He does come from Angel Grove and he's not that old, Lina. It is possible," Garrett said as Angelina shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts.

"I don't think it's anything like that and if he was he wouldn't tell us if we asked. There is no point really concentrating on it," Angelina said as Garrett gave her a knowing look. "What's that look for?"

"Katie can tell us. You know that she would know about it," Garrett said, as he was a friend of the brown haired wonder, as he had nicknamed her after a particularly rough karate lesson.

"There is a problem with that idea too Garrett. Katie's not been here either and no one is answering the phone. Even Hayley's is closed, so I can't ask her where they might be," Angelina said as Kasi sat down at the table next to Garrett. "Where have you been?"

"Talking to Andie. She stopped me to ask if Dr. O was having classes up here tonight, but I guess we're not since he's not here today. What's going on with them? I haven't seen either of them together over the last few weeks," Kasi said as Angelina and Garrett exchanged a glance.

Most of the student body didn't know that Tommy and Andie had broken up, but the few that did were not in any hurry to spread it. They had all been secretly routing for the relationship, although Angelina had definitely backed off when Katie said how unhappy her brother was. No matter how much they wanted it to work out, they all wanted for him to be happy.

"They broke up," Garrett said as Kasi's mouth dropped open.

"When did this happen?" Kasi asked as Angelina took in a deep breath.

"A couple of weeks ago, right after the dojo was destroyed from what I can tell. Katie didn't tell me much about it. She just said they broke up," Angelina said as Kasi just shook her head.

"And that was right when the new lady showed up. But they were so happy. Why would they break up?" Kasi asked as Garrett just shook his head.

"They weren't happy, Kasi. Andie won't admit it, but their relationship had been ending ever since his parents died this past summer, it was just a matter of time before they broke up," Garrett said as Angelina and Kasi looked at him. Angelina had no clue as to how he would know that sort of information and her look said it all. "Katie didn't just talk to you, Lina. She mentioned it to me one day after class."

"Where have they been anyway?" Kasi asked, as Garrett and Angelina shrugged their shoulders. As much as they wanted to try their theory on someone, Kasi was not that someone. They didn't need for half the school to think that Dr. O was a Power Ranger by the end of the day if they didn't have any proof to back it up.

"That's the million dollar question," Garrett said as the bell rang and they stood to go to class. "Lina, I'll catch up with you after school. Maybe we can find something to do around Reefside."

_Denlar_

_Kim's POV_

I've landed in a giant crater before and thought that it would be possible that we could do some damage to the enemy, today I landed on a giant crater and was scared. Denlar is a planet that seems to be full of death, not just for foreigners but for its own inhabitants. It reeks of the smell of death and the chill in the air is the most frightening thing I've ever encountered. It is extremely dark and the only light that can be seen in a strange green glow on the horizon, which we are all sure is the dubons, our welcoming committee.

It's weird to know that I became a ranger for the first time ten years ago and here I am, back in action. I'm sure that Jason and Tommy are thinking the same things, well really just Tommy. Jason is spaced out right now as he leads us closer to the neon green horizon. Conner and Katie seem to know what is going on, but they won't say anything and the two of us have given up on trying to get the answer out of Jason. He's determined to keep it a secret and we are not going to try him. We have business to do, whether we like it or not.

"You'd think that they would come attack us right away," Katie said as they continued to trudge forward. All of them now wished that they had put on an extra layer of clothing as the air was frigid and they were barely able to stay warm from walking. They were getting to the point that they would almost be glad for a fight, just so they could warm up.

"I'm not sure they know that we are here," Jason said and the four of them looked at him. That was the first full sentence that he had spoken since they had arrived. "Come on, we have to keep moving or this damn temperature will kill us first."

"Now would be a good time to clue us in on what we have to face Jason," Tommy said as Jason looked over at him and shook his head no.

"Jason, we don't know anything. We're just here," Kim said as Jason nodded his head.

"I don't know anything either, Kim. Zordon didn't seem to think it fit to tell us anything. We may have all the information that we need already," Jason said as Tommy and Kimberly glared over at him.

"What if we don't Jason? What are we going to do then? We all have responsibilities left to us back home, especially you," Katie said as Jason spared a glance at her before letting out a long sigh.

"Then we fight to the end. Our responsibilities back home are not nearly as important as what we have in front of us right now," Jason said as Katie and Conner both shook their heads at him.

"You can't tell me you believe the bull shit you just said," Katie said as Tommy grabbed Jason's shoulder, just in case he tried to jump towards Katie. Jason was never one to harm women, but he had been pushed before and Katie seemed to be jumping up and down on all the right buttons.

"I don't believe it, but I have to live it. I'm a ranger, just like you Katie and there are some risks you take," Jason said, sullenly, as Katie shook her head.

"You don't risk never getting the chance to see…" Katie said as Conner placed his hand over her mouth and violently shook his head no. He did not think that Jason could take Katie blurting that out right now.

"It's not something I like to risk, but it is something that I have to risk. This is a job that has risks that no one wants to face, but you have to," Jason said as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance while Jason shook off Tommy's hand off his shoulder.

"But, Jason, the last time you risked something…." Tommy said as Jason held up his hand and Tommy silenced himself.

"Tommy, I don't need to be reminded about that now. It's in the past and I don't need it brought back up," Jason said as he quickened his own pace and the other rangers held back.

"What are you talking about?" Katie whispered as Tommy and Kim looked at each other and then looked down at the ground. "Tommy, we don't have time to bull shit around facts that are already present. If something happened to Jason the last time he left someone at home, we need to know. It may play with his mind this time."

"Have you ever heard Jason talk about Trini?" Tommy asked, as Katie shook her head no. She had known Jason for the last few years and she had only heard Trini mentioned by Tommy or some of the others. She knew he had died, but she didn't know exactly how it affected Jason, only that it did affect him. "Well, then I have a lot to explain to the two of you."

"It looks like we have a lot of time, Tommy," Katie said as she shivered and then felt Conner put an arm around her.

"All right, I'll explain, but it's not really pleasant," Tommy said as Katie nodded her head and he looked over at Kim. He had hoped that Katie would say she didn't want to hear it, but he had no such luck. "It all really began when they went to the Peace Conference in Geneva. They had always been good friends, but they were never anything more until they went there. They had had their powers taken away and they depended on each other a lot more. Trini suffered from horrible dreams while she was out there and the only one who could calm her down was Jason. After awhile they started giving into the fact that they could no longer be just friends. Then, we had to call him back to Angel Grove to take the Gold Ranger powers. He left her behind with a promise that either he would come back or he would come get her and bring her back to Angel Grove, but that day never came…"

_Flashback_

"Jason, what's gotten into you today?" Tommy asked as he ducked another kick that was headed his way and he finally stood up and caught Jason's hands. "What's wrong?"

"I just need to burn off some extra frustration. I haven't heard from Trini in a couple of days and I'm starting to worry about her," Jason said as Tommy let go of his wrists and then nodded. He knew what it was like to lose contact with someone and he couldn't blame Jason for being worried after what he had been through.

"She's fine. She probably has some exams or extra legislation to write, Jason. I wouldn't worry about her," Tommy said as they walked over to the table where all the other rangers were sitting and took a seat.

"Yeah, you're right. She did seem like she was really busy the last time that I talked to her," Jason said as he took a sip from his bottle of water and began rubbing his sweat off with a towel. "But something just doesn't feel right."

"Zack?" Angela asked as Zack entered the Juice Bar, looking as if he needed a shave and a good nights sleep. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't talk to you right now, Angela," Zack said as she gave him a hug and she gave him a bewildered look as he gently unwrapped her arms. He knew that his news was not going to be welcomed, but Jason deserved to hear what happened in person, not on the telephone.

"Zack!" Aisha yelled as she ran over and gave him a hug while the other rangers turned and looked at him. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

"Jase, can I talk to you?" Zack asked as Jason looked over at him and saw something clouding Zack's usually bright eyes.

"Yeah," Jason said as Zack looked at the floor.

"Away from everyone else," Zack said as the rangers looked at him and suddenly got feelings in the pit of their stomachs that Jason was about to receive some unpleasant news.

"I guess," Jason said as he stood up and followed Zack out of the Juice Bar. "What's going on? You look like shit."

"Jason, there's no easy way to say this," Zack said as he looked around the park as they continued walking.

"Say what? Zack, has something happened in Geneva?" Jason asked as Zack nodded his head yes.

"Jason, Trini's dead," Zack whispered as Jason looked over at him and then took a slow breath. "She was killed in a train accident while she was traveling to Paris to help with a conference there."

"She can't be dead," Jason muttered as tears clouded his vision and he sat down on the first patch of grass that he came to and placed his head in his hands. "Zack, there has to have been a mix up."

"No mix up, Jason. She died on impact, along with several other members of the Peace Conference. They haven't determined what made the train derail, but they are working on it," Zack said as he heard a sob come from Jason and Jason continued to shake his head no, in a frantic attempt to make it go away. "I'm sorry Jason."

_End of Flashback_

"He hasn't been the same since then. The tenth anniversary is coming up and this year has been rough on him," Tommy said as Katie and Conner looked at each other while Kim wiped her own eyes. "It changed us all."

"Is that why he's afraid to commit to a relationship?" Katie asked as Tommy nodded his head yes.

"Hayley is the first person that he has even talked to about Trini besides the rest of us. He's getting there, he's getting ready to recommit, but I don't know if he needs to be pushed," Tommy said as Katie and Conner looked at each other.

"He's being pushed," Katie whispered as Tommy nodded his head in understanding.

"I was afraid that you would say that, but he may need it," Tommy said with a sigh as Katie looked over at him.

"I don't know if he needs this type of pressure, Tommy," Katie said as Tommy nodded.

"But now he has it and don't worry too much about Jason. He's pretty resourceful and he's been through worse than whatever is happening right now," Tommy said as Katie looked up ahead at Jason's still shadow. "It's not going to be peaceful much longer."

AN: Sorry it took me so long to get out this chapter, I got side tracked on some other things. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think about it!


	30. Thoughts

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, and Kasi Freedmon.

_Jason's POV_

Going towards the dubons, I have noticed that this greenish glow is becoming much more neon in color, but that is not where my thoughts have really been centered. I stopped listening to the others, I knew that Tommy was going to tell them about Trini and I don't think I can deal with listening to that explanation. But Tommy is right, the last time I left someone to work with rangers, things went straight to hell for me.

I can't tell them the reality though; it would make things worse for me. It's enough that Katie figured it out on her own, I don't need the others to know. Katie is not exactly quiet about it, but she hasn't spilled her guts to them, yet. I trust that she won't, but she does seem rather aggravated with me, not that I blame her. But I can only imagine what Tommy would say if he knew the full extent of the situation at hand.

My memories are enough to scare me into doing this mission quickly, but try explaining that to Tommy who already has enough crap on his plate. He knows something is wrong and I can imagine he has figured it deals with Hayley, but not much more than that.

He is the only person here who has not been pushing me to move on since Trini's death. All of our other friends did for a long time, but he told them off for me one night. I guess he understood where I was coming from and he didn't like being hounded for not being over Kim, but it was the truth. Kim, however, is still alive. Trini's dead and I don't get the second chance I wish I had to make things right.

I've often wondered what would have happened if she had survived the accident, I doubt the baby would have made it, but if she had lived we could have had a lifetime together to make a family of our own. I doubt I would have left her in Geneva any longer and I doubt she would have wanted to stay away after an incident like that.

See this is a secret that only I carry, that only I know about. None of the other rangers know that Trini was pregnant when she died and none of them even suspected that we would have had sex before I came back, but neither of us could stop that night, as we had on other occasions. It seemed that we both knew that this could be the first and last time we were together and we wanted it in so many ways, ways that we both felt had to be met. I finally managed to let go of the idea that we had to wait that night and I experienced one night when I was truly happy with the woman in my arms.

When she called me a month later, sounding panicked, I knew something had happened, only I didn't know how deeply it went and how much it would affect me.

_Flashback_

"Hello," Jason said groggily as he looked over at the clock, which read 2 A.M.

Thankfully, he lived alone, so it did not disturb anyone but him when someone called at this time of night. He, however, knew that only one person could be calling him at this time of night and he slowly reached over and flicked on his lamp so that he would be able to fully listen to what she had to say.

"Hey, Jase," Trini said as clutched a pregnancy test in her hand. She had been feeling bad all week and when it finally occurred to her to take the test, she was scared shitless at what the results might turn out to be.

This was not how she wanted to be pregnant and this was certainly not how she wanted to tell Jason that she was pregnant their baby, but she couldn't exactly hop on a plane to California. She knew Jason would want her to stay there and with the current work that was being done in Geneva, she had to stay at the Peace Conference. Maybe in a few months she would be able to find a way back to Angel Grove, but right now that was impossible for her to do. She knew Jason understood, but she also knew Jason and he wouldn't want to be separated from her right now anymore than he could help.

"What's got you calling me at two in the morning, Trini? You had a bad day?" Jason asked, good naturedly, as he sat up in bed and closed his eyes. His day had been horrible, but he was certain that if Trini was calling him at this time of night hers had somehow managed to be worse. She usually was considerate of the time change, but when things went wrong in Geneva, he knew that he could expect a call at anytime, day or night.

"I actually have had a pretty good day, Jason," Trini said as she bit her lip and she could hear Jason straightening up on the other end of the telephone, now confused as to why she was calling him at this time of morning. "I just needed to talk to you."

"What about? Come on, Tri, I know it's pretty important for you to be waking me up like this," Jason said, soothingly, as he heard her sigh and let out a nervous laugh.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this like this," Trini said as Jason suddenly was completely awake and hanging on her every word. He knew that they had been a little bit foolish the last night he was in Geneva, but hopefully it was not going to be any more life altering than it already was.

"I'm not going to be mad at you Trini, no matter what it is," Jason said as he heard her let out a sob and looked down at his communicator, knowing that she would probably not be able to get whatever it was out over the phone. Zordon didn't like for him to teleport to Geneva, but this was a special circumstance and he was sure Zordon would understand it. Even if he didn't, he was going to go anyway, so there was not much that Zordon could do to stop him. "Where are you?"

"I'm in my dorm. I decided not to go to supper tonight. I thought calling it an early night would be best for me," Trini said as she continued to sniffle at the thought of trying to explain that she was pregnant over the phone.

"Let me put on some clothes Trini and I'll be right there, okay?" Jason asked as Trini's eyes widened, but she couldn't tell him not to come. She wanted to tell him this in person and he was going to let her do that.

"That's fine, Jase. I'll be waiting for you," Trini said as she numbly hung up the phone and went and sat down in a chair, still clutching the pregnancy test.

"Hey," Jason said as he landed in a ray of gold sparkles in front of her and then turned to truly face her. He couldn't remember seeing her look this worried in a very long time and no matter what thoughts were going through his head, he knew it best to keep those thoughts quiet. "You okay?"

"I've been better," Trini said as she continued to look down at her hands and Jason started staring at them as well, hoping they would give him an answer to why he had come half-way across the world at two in the morning. Trini was being extremely quiet for having to tell him something, but he hoped that would end soon. "You may want to sit down, it's probably the safest thing you can do."

"Where?" Jason asked as Trini finally looked up at him and he reached down and gave her a firm hug. "Hey, whatever it is, we're going to be fine Trini, I promise."

"I don't know how to tell you this," Trini cried as Jason loosened his grip so that he could look down at her. "I don't know how you'll take it."

"I've already told you I won't be mad at you, Tri. I don't care what has happened," Jason said as he pleaded to her with his eyes to tell him what was going on.

"Jason, I…I…" Trini said as she looked down at her clutched fist again and then back up at him with new tears welling in her eyes.

"What?" Jason asked softly as he gently picked her up and placed her in his lap. "Trini, it's okay to tell me. I'll be here for you no matter what it is."

"I'm pregnant," Trini whispered as Jason leaned closer to her to catch what she was saying. She then dissolved into a fit of sobs that racked her body and caused her to cling closer to Jason. "I understand if you don't want the baby, but I'm not going to get an abortion Jason. I'll raise it by myself and you don't have to have anything to do with me."

"No…I don't want you to do that. I said I would be here for you and I love you Trini, so why would I not want a child with you?" Jason whispered as he gently rocked Trini back and forth in an attempt to calm her down some.

"Because you're halfway across the world right now being a ranger and it's just another thing that you would have to worry about. You have so much pressure on you already, why would you want more?" Trini sobbed as Jason placed her back in the chair so that he could stand up on his own.

"I already worry about you, Tri, you know that. It's not going to be much worse on me," Jason whispered as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You're really not hungry? I could order something for you. I don't mind."

"I've been too sick to eat much of anything, Jase. I just want a good night's sleep," Trini whispered as he gently picked her up from her chair and walked over to her bed and laid her down.

"Then I'll let you get some," Jason said as he bent down to give her another kiss and was surprised when Trini wouldn't let him go.

"Please stay, just until I get to sleep. Then you can go if you have to. I haven't been sleeping well lately and I really could use a good night's sleep after how I've felt this week," Trini begged as Jason nodded his head and then kicked off his shoes that he had hastily put on and climbed into bed with her.

"I'll stay as long as you need me to, Tri," Jason whispered as she snuggled up against him and he wrapped his arms around her. He knew that he was not going to leave her until he absolutely had to and he could only hope that would be much later that night.

_End of Flashback_

That was not the last time that I saw Trini, I got to where I would sleep a couple of hours in Angel Grove and then I would teleport myself to Geneva so that I could get her to sleep and make sure that she was all right. The last time I saw her, she was starting to get a little pudge on her lower abdomen and I knew that she had been going to the doctor, but still hadn't told Zack. I don't know why she never told Zack about it, so that he could have been there for her when I wasn't, but I didn't ask her why. She knew what was best for her and I trusted her with that.

Zack, for years, thought I blamed him for her death, but I really blamed myself for not letting him or any of the others know that I was going to be a father. I've carried this burden before in secret and it's rough to handle. I'm not sure if I am ready to do this again.

Yeah, it's been ten years, but I still lost her, she's still dead and so is my first child. That's why I have been so reluctant to start another relationship and it's not that I don't think Hayley is a great person, but my love for her is different. I don't think I could ever love someone the same way that I loved Trini.

"Hey, Jason!" Tommy yelled as they ran up to him and he looked down at the ground and hastily wiped his eyes. Every time that he thought about Trini he was emotional and he hoped that they wouldn't pry too far right now. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking," Jason said as Tommy nodded, knowing that if Jason had been thinking about Trini then there was no need to harass him for his tears, as some would. He had done it on enough occasions when he thought about Kim when they had been apart and he just understood. He didn't need to know the answers that many others had to have because he had been through a similar event.

"How much longer do you think it will be before they detect us?" Katie asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulder. If he knew the answer to that question then he would be able to fight in fights much more accurately.

"Don't worry about that. We're ready to fight them and I don't think we've tapped into our full powers yet," Jason said as Katie smiled over at him and he returned a small grin.

"Jason, whatever thoughts you've had, you have to leave them here. You can't think on it anymore for the time being. Our job is about to begin," Katie said as a flash of green light soared overhead and they all watched as it fell some thirty yards away from them. Peace for a Power Ranger seemed almost ridiculous, but tonight they all would have done anything to have a few more minutes of that precious peace.

AN: Yeah, I know this chapter has no fighting but I thought of an idea for Jason and I went with it, I hope none of you mind. I'm going to be having a fight scene soon, so don't worry. Toodles!


	31. Victory

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, and Kasi Freedmon.

_Angelina's POV_

Another day of school begins and still no sight of Katie or Dr. O amongst the many people scurrying around in these busy hallways trying to get to class on time. It wouldn't worry me so much if someone would pick up the phone just to say that they are all right, but it still rings tirelessly on. I now have come to the assumption that they are the only people left in the United States that have failed to buy an answering machine for situations like this. Not that it would do much good, but it would give me a chance to vent some of my frustrations of their disappearance to a device that will, eventually, report it to them.

"Any luck?" Garrett asked as Angelina shook her head no and sat down next to him in science class. They had yet another substitute and this one looked even more confused than the last. They had been hoping against all hope that Dr. O would show up today, but they were disappointed, yet again. What could possibly be keeping him away from school this long?

"No one. There wasn't even a hint that someone tried to pick up the phone at all," Angelina said as Garrett just shook his head.

"Hayley's wasn't much better when I went by yesterday. Her employees don't know where she is but they've opened it for business. They say it is what she would want them to do. Something serious is going on here and we need to get to the bottom of it. Both of them wouldn't be gone if everything was perfectly fine around here," Garrett said as Angelina nodded in agreement, but what was there for them to really look into? Unless Dr. O had decided to plaster to the front door of his home that he was a ranger then they were not going to find any information about them.

"But what can we do? Break into his house and search for clues as to where they might be? And what caused them to go away?" Angelina whispered as Garrett shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not? We can go look this afternoon since we don't have class again and maybe we'll find something that will give us a clue as to what is going on. If not then we'll just know that there is no use in looking until they show back up. Then we'll just try to pull it out of them when they do show back up," Garrett whispered as Angelina gave him a reproachful stare. She had not thought that he would take her comment seriously in the least bit.

"Sure. That's a real bright idea to go over there when no one has so much as seen them in a week. We don't want people to become suspicious of us. You know that everyone here is trying to figure this mystery out and I doubt anyone is anywhere near close to solving it, except us. I don't believe that anyone would believe it anyway, though," Angelina whispered as the substitute glared over at the two of them as the PA system crackled to life.

"Mrs. Henderson?" Andie's voice echoed as the substitute took her attention off Garrett and Angelina who had not stopped whispering since they entered the room several minutes ago. They seemed to be devising some sort of plan and she was fairly sure that it had absolutely nothing to do with science, although she had not given them any work because there were no lesson plans. She was sure that the other substitutes had been aggravated, but she really wanted to teach, that was why she was here.

"Yes," Mrs. Henderson said as the class silenced themselves, out of respect for Andie more than respect for the substitute.

"The principal would like to speak to you in the office immediately," Andie said as the substitute sighed and then turned to leave the room. She could only imagine what she was being called to the office for. She had only just arrived a few minutes ago because she mixed up her directions to the high school and she surely thought that he would not be getting onto her for that. From what she had heard about this Dr. Oliver, he was just as likely to get lost in a town he had lived in all his life.

"We have to do something, even if it is not much, to try to find out all we can about this mess," Garrett said as the room erupted with discussion of current events.

Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with Dr. O, but no one had any viable ideas expect them and even they thought it was insane to mention their idea to anyone else. All Dr. O needed was to come back and for everyone to think he was a Power Ranger. He was going to have enough trouble with the principal; he didn't need any extra trouble with the student body.

"Garrett, what good will it do if no one is there? We can't ask any questions to the house about where they are," Angelina said as Garrett lowered his voice and his head.

"Then we know no one is there and that they haven't been ignoring us for the past week. We'll have all other options left to investigate and who knows, we might find something that will point us in the right direction," Garrett said as Angelina slowly nodded her head. "So you agree to it?"

"We have to try to do something, you're right about that. This has gone way too far. If he doesn't show back up soon I have no clue what the principal will do. You know how things were last year when he disappeared for a couple of days and I don't think it will bode well for him this time. We may have a new principal, but he does remember Dr. O's unexpected disappearances last year. He worked right across the hall," Angelina said as the substitute walked back in with a book in hand and a set of keys.

"Class, can I please have your attention. I will be you teacher until Dr. Oliver returns from his unscheduled absence and I will possibly become his replacement by the looks of the current situation," Mrs. Henderson said as the class suddenly silenced.

They had never thought that the administration would even think of firing Dr. Oliver. Sure he had been absent a lot so far this year, but he was one of the best teachers that they had and they were sure he was working for far less pay than what he deserved. And how could this lady even be qualified to be a teacher? Hell, she had rolled her supplies in, in a little red wagon this morning. That had to be illegal for a qualified teacher to do.

"They can't get rid of Dr. O!" Angelina yelled, rising from her seat as the rest of the class nodded rather enthusiastically at that proclamation.

If they got rid of him, they were going to lose not only one of the best teachers they had, but one of the most involved as well. Very few of them knew or wanted to know that he had played some sports in high school, but they all were extremely happy to see him at a game of theirs, when the other teachers rarely showed up.

"Sit down, Ms. Gomez," Mrs. Henderson said sternly as Angelina slowly lowered herself into her seat as she shook her head in disbelief. This could not be happening, especially when Dr. O was not here to defend himself.

"This means war," Angelina whispered as Garrett barely nodded his head. He had no idea what Angelina had in mind, but he could imagine that it would mean having to do a great deal more than what he had planned.

_Denlar_

"Shit," Jason said as he forced Tommy and Conner to the ground while Kim and Katie dove out of the way as a bullet of green light shot towards them. He had no clue what it was, but he was sure that it was meant to hurt them and they did not need any injury right now. They had a lot of work to do and as far as he was concerned, the faster they were able to get this done the better it would be on all of them.

"What the hell was that?" Katie asked as she crawled over to Conner who had just raised his head to look around the terrain, afraid that another green ray would come pelting their way. He had seen things like this before, but usually he was close enough to see what was being fired at them. This time he had absolutely no clue what it could be and that scared him more than anything else.

"I'm not sure, but whatever is manning it wants us out of the picture, for good, if possible," Conner whispered as Jason and Tommy crawled forward to try to get a better view of what was in front of them.

What they saw in front of them was startling; an army of dubons had gathered and was holding some sort of projectile weapon, seemingly trying to detect them and aim it again. They had seen things like this before, but they had never seen so many minions gathered in a protective stance. Usually the minions would start to scatter when they figured out that a ranger attack was eminent, but these minions did not seem to want to or know to do that.

"We're never going to beat them flat out without maxing out our powers before we get to Belstan, which will leave us no way to defeat him before he can make or call in more of these things. Our best bet would be for one person to make a break towards Belstan's cavern while the rest of us work on the dubons. Maybe we'll get lucky and get all of this done in one fell swoop," Jason said as they looked at him and then nodded their heads. They understood the urgency that Jason felt, although some of them understood it better than others did. "Tommy, you break whenever you get a clear shot. The rest of us will do what we can out here. If you can't defeat him or can't find a way to easily get to him, come back out and we'll regroup. We do have all the time we need to do this."

"Do you think we should save our powers as long as we can?" Kim asked, as Jason looked at the army of dubons in the valley below them. He would have loved to have been able to tell them to save their powers, but he thought it was extremely foolish to head that way without some sort of protection. The dubons were not going to be easy on them and he did not want to risk any of them getting injured before they morphed.

"I think it would be best for us to morph now. We don't need to go down there without some sort of protection," Jason said as they nodded and then quickly morphed. They were then joined by their miniature Zords and they all looked over at their own, with a bit of confusion. They had been under the impression that they would only come when called, but it seemed that their assumption was a little bit off the mark.

"Cover fire?" Katie asked as she looked at her cranezord and Jason and Tommy smiled. They had never had cover fire going into something like this, but these little Zords would do a heck of a job and might possibly manage to knock out some of the dubons.

"Nice thinking," Jason said as he petted his own lionzord and then gave it stern orders while the others did the same.

"Let's get this over with," Kim said as Jason and Tommy nodded their heads. They had never been the type of people to lay back and do nothing and they were not going to start doing that now.

"Hey," Katie said and they looked over at her with quite a start. "Don't forget we are the Power Rangers, supposedly we can do anything."

"Yeah," Tommy said with a smile as he headed down the hill with the others following closely behind him. "We need to spread out, Jason, give them more targets to try to shoot that weapon towards. They aren't as likely to hit us hard as a group if we'll do that."

"All right, let's go," Jason said as another streak of green light passed over his shoulder and the others scattered in different directions, while continuing to head towards the dubons.

He faintly saw Tommy disappear among the dubons and could tell that he was throwing them in every direction, while making as quick of progress as possible. Kim was much closer to him and was sending as many dubons as she could towards him, while she tried to pick her way closer to the entrance of the cave as well. She knew that if Tommy ever got into the cave that they were then going to have to try to keep the dubons out of the cave, which was going to be no easy task. They were far outnumbered here and the odds had never been more stacked against them, in her opinion.

"Shit," Katie muttered as she saw Conner go down a few feet away from her, but she also noticed that there was a crack in the ground only a few feet away from him. It looked to her to be just big enough that her or Kim could slip into it, but how was she supposed to tell the others about it?

"Watch your language young lady," Tommy said as Katie snatched her head up and saw him, in the distance fighting a dubon, seemingly unfazed by the fact that his voice had just reverberated in her own helmet and how had he heard that anyway?

"You can hear me?" Katie asked as the other rangers glanced over at her before shaking their heads. They had to remember that she was new at this job. No one who had ever been in a ranger suit before would ask that question, but they did have to answer her, sometime.

"Yes, I can hear everything you say, Katie. We have an intercom system in our helmets. How else do you think we know when to do some things? We're not telepathic," Tommy said as Katie could only shrug. She didn't really know the answer, but she had never thought of this type of system to solve the problem.

"There's a way into the cave that's closer to me. It's a crack in the ground from what I can see," Katie said as the four other rangers froze for a fraction of a second and then began fighting again, knowing that they would be punished if they stayed still for too long.

"How big?" Jason asked, as he did not really want to send Katie or Kimberly in by themselves. They were strong fighters in their own right and he respected that, but he doubted that either of them would be a match for Belstan. He didn't know what the being was capable of, but he was sure it was much more than a couple of 120-pound women could dish out by themselves.

"Kim or me could fit in it, but I doubt that ya'll could. We don't exactly need to get anyone stuck there," Katie said as she moved herself closer to it, knowing what might be asked of her next. Kimberly was no where near it and she didn't think it wise to pull her away from Tommy so soon. The two of them worked very well together and the side where they were was quickly losing dubons, comparatively speaking as to what she and Conner had managed to do.

"Kate, go, you're closest and whenever I can get a chance I'll break for it," Tommy said as Kim jerked her head towards him questioning whether or not he had his head screwed on properly today. He did realize that they were sending their least experienced person in there and that did not comfort her. Katie didn't know how to get herself out of situations that they could easily handle because of the years that they had served. "It's all we can do, Kim. We don't exactly have all the time in the world. Eltar is in danger as well and if we don't hurry here, things are going to get ugly back on Earth."

"If they're not already ugly, Tommy," Kim said as she was kicked in the stomach and then thrown to the ground as Tommy scrambled and launched the dubon into the air as she watched with an appreciative grin on her face. It was nice to feel somewhat protected again in these crazy battles.

_Katie's POV_

I dove headfirst into this miserable crack in the ground, not sure what was ahead of me, but hoping that it would be better than what I left behind. Nothing I have ever done prepared me for this, as I landed in a pit which was filled with this odd neon light that seemed to even make up the walls. I soon realized just how infernally hot it is here and it is no wonder why the dubons are outside, they would have a heat stroke in here with that many bodies in this space. This place, however, does not seem to have any entrances or exits that are truly visible, which makes me wonder what have I gotten myself into?

All the other rangers here have been through this before and yet I'm the one in here, facing whatever might come out of the woodwork. Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut about the crack in the ground? But I know what is at stake if we don't hurry up around here. Tommy's job, Eltar's safety, Hayley's pregnancy, and so much more that I probably don't even know about. It makes no sense that I am here in the first place, but here I am and I'm a Power Ranger. Looks like I have my work cut out for me, from what I can tell.

"Little pink ranger," Belstan said as Katie spun around and could see the dark outline of his body in the far corner of the space. "How did you get in here? My dubons are still fighting above us, if I am correct."

"I have my ways," Katie said with a smile as she tried to focus more on his shape and if he was holding, anything that might be considered a weapon. Even with the dark visor, she still could not see much around her and focusing in on anything was much harder than she expected.

"All Power Rangers are the same. They think they can do absolutely anything because they have some little powers running through them, you are no different. It's a pity, you really should have learned a lesson from your other rangers," Belstan said as he stepped close enough that Katie could see his true outline without things becoming fuzzy around the edges.

"Try me. That's all I ask of you," Katie said as Belstan looked at her utterly confused. No Power Ranger had ever talked to him like this before. Usually that talked down to him and didn't bother to try to hold a real conversation. She must be new at this if she was attempting to reason with him, which was quite ludicrous.

"I don't waste my time bargaining with Power Rangers," Belstan said as Gahaleigh sprinted into the room and saw the pink Power Ranger standing only a few feet away from Belstan, but neither of them seem to be preparing to launch an attack at the other.

"The Power Rangers have defeated the dubons. They are on their way, as we speak," Gahaleigh said as Belstan tried to make a break for an exit, but Katie dove for him and trapped him against the ground. He could not believe how strong this little girl was, but he would have surely exchanged her for someone else, someone that wouldn't have tackled him to prevent him from escaping.

"You'll meet your maker today, Belstan," Katie said as Kim dropped in from above and looked at how Belstan was being restrained on the floor. It honestly made her wonder what sort of powers the man had if he couldn't throw off Katie.

"The others will be here soon," Kim said as Katie jumped up and allowed Kim to have an open shot at Belstan.

"What did ya'll do to defeat those things?" Katie asked as she opened fire on Belstan as well. Gahaleigh started slipping towards the nearest exit, but his escape attempt was marred as the male Power Rangers burst through the doors.

"You'll have to hear that story back in Angel Grove," Kim said as Katie sent out a powerful burst of energy, which hit Belstan dead on, but he still managed to stagger back to his feet.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tommy asked as Gahaleigh jumped at his voice and streaked forward, getting into Katie's path of destruction.

"More rangers," Belstan said bitterly as Jason, Conner, and Tommy began to fire upon them as well.

Katie and Kim's weapons, while they could not be called dainty, did not carry the fire power of males, although they never told them about that. They were sure they would demand stronger weapons and that was not something they necessarily needed. Their weapons suited them and the two of them seemed to have powers that were very vast in comparison to their own.

"Little crane!" Katie yelled and much to Belstan's and Gahaleigh's surprise a miniature zord came zooming in through the crack above and began firing on them as well. "Sick 'em."

"What does that term mean?" Gahaleigh asked as they were pelted with fire from this little zord and he soon noticed that other miniature zords seemed to be coming in to tackle them as well.

"I am afraid that it is a term used to tell an animal to attack, which is exactly what these zords are doing," Belstan said as Gahaleigh went down at his side and he looked over at the rangers, who had assembled a weapon while they had been paying attention to the zords that were hovering around them.

"Fire!" Jason yelled as the weapon sent a shot of energy towards Belstan and he collapsed, almost at the same moment as when it hit him. They then looked at each other thinking that it could not have been this easy to defeat Belstan, but they soon felt the familiar sensation of teleportation pulling them back to Earth.

_Reefside_

"Here we are," Angelina said as she pulled into the drive of Dr. Oliver's home. Although she hadn't been there over the last few months, nothing major had seemed to have changed, although there was some evidence of recent work around the front door, which was odd. From what she knew, Dr. O had just finished some major work on his house at the beginning of the summer, so why would things have to be replaced so soon?

"I didn't think that Dr. O would live this far away from town," Garrett said getting out of the car and taking a look around the property. He had never seen the house before and therefore he couldn't tell if any changes had been made to it, but he thought that the least he could do was look out for some more obvious things, like the pile of mail that was stacked on the front porch.

"From what Katie said, he doesn't like town much, he'd rather be out here where he can have a little bit of fresh air," Angelina said as Garrett nodded, while he squatted down to rifle through the mail.

"This is at least a week's worth of mail," Garrett said as Angelina looked closely at the door, at one time there had been scuff marks all over the bottom, but now all of that was gone. Something had definitely happened to that front door to make them either repaint it or replace it.

"Funny, they have a new door," Angelina said as Garrett just shook his head.

"Look, Lina we didn't come here to examine a door, so let's take a look and then get out of here. This place gives me the creeps," Garrett said as Angelina nodded her head and then headed towards the back of the house, where Dr. O usually parked his car.

"How did they leave if all of their vehicles are here?" Angelina wondered aloud as Garrett just shook his head. He had no clue how that was possible, but if they were really rangers then he could imagine how that would be possible.

"Hey, look at this," Garrett said as he pulled Angelina over to the back door, which was cracked slightly and he figured if they pulled hard enough they would be able to get into the house.

"We don't need to go in, Garrett, trust me. Dr. O can be a little bit paranoid from what Katie says and I'm sure that we'll find some sort of trap in there that we won't be able to get out of," Angelina said as Garrett took a better look at the door and then nodded his head in agreement. They did not want to do something that could place them in jail for any reason whatsoever. It was bad enough that they were snooping around their teacher's house, if they were to be caught inside it, the hell they would pay would be so much worse.

"So what is there to find? No one is here, nothing points to them even leaving the house, and this door is cracked. What if something happened to them?" Garrett asked as Angelina took in a deep breath and then looked carefully at the door in question.

"I don't think anything happened. One of the two of them would have found a way to get to the phone and phone the police. They both are fighters, you know that," Angelina said as she sunk down next to the wall and placed her head in her hands. Things just weren't adding up, no matter what way she looked at it, it seemed more and more likely that she was a ranger. "Something just isn't right about this though. If everything is here, why aren't they here?"

"Maybe they really are rangers, Lina," Garrett said as Angelina just shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to believe that. They just had to be ordinary people; neither of them acted as if they were a ranger, although Dr. O was paranoid. But anyone could be paranoid, not just former Power Rangers. "Think about the evidence that there is for that. Dr. O comes from Angel Grove, he moved here the same year that a ranger team originated in Reefside, and now there is some evil that a ranger team is taking on in Angel Grove and Reefside, what other option is there?"

"That they had a family emergency and haven't had a chance to get in touch with anyone. Or they just wanted a break from the world and went and stayed in Angel Grove for a little while," Angelina said, hotly, as Garrett shook his head. What family did they have left? They were both adopted and from what he knew, their birth parents were dead.

"I just think them being rangers is more logical than anything else that we are going to come up with, Lina. You don't have to agree with me about it, though," Garrett said as Angelina heard a dull thud come from inside and looked over at Garrett.

"What the hell was that?" Angelina asked as Garrett shook his head that he didn't know. He didn't really want to stick around to find out what it was, but he was not going to tell Angelina that right now. If she wanted to stay, then he would stay. "Come on, let's get out of here. I don't want Dr. O to come out here and kung fu my ass just because I was sitting on his property."

"All right, Lina, but I still think that we should look into this ranger thing some more. It's the only thing that might lead us somewhere," Garrett said as Angelina merely nodded her head.

"We will, tomorrow. Right now I just want to leave this place before something comes out and attacks me," Angelina said as Garrett nodded and they quickly hopped into her car and sped off.

"Everything clear now Tony?" Keema's voice asked as Anthony watched the car roll down the driveway and he let out a long sight of relief.

"Yeah, it's all clear, but you are not going to believe what the two of them were talking about," Anthony said as he ensured that they were far enough out of sight that they wouldn't see his trail when he teleported out of the house. He was sure that Tommy and Katie were not going to want to hear this news when they got home.

AN: I am so terribly sorry that it took...I don't know how long it is...so long to get this out. I had a tiny case of writers block, then my internet went down. If there are any obvious errors, I'm so sorry, let me know and I'll try to fix them. I just think it is more important to get a chapter out that is readable, to some extent. The next one is already in the works and I'll have it out maybe within the next week and it'll explain some things that are left open in this one. Toodles!


	32. Return From Denlar

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, and Kasi Freedmon.

"That was way too fast," Tommy said as they landed in the Command Center and looked at each other, still in uniform. He was completely baffled as to how they had managed to defeat Belstan in a matter of hours as opposed to the days that he had thought it was going to take. There had to be something else at work that they didn't know about for that to happen.

"Yeah, from the way all of you talked this was going to take us a few days to do. I barely broke a sweat today, although it was so damn hot," Katie said as she pulled off her helmet and shook her hair out, a lot of it still stuck to her neck, but it was the best she could do until she could take a good long shower.

"You might as well power down. You are going to be here for awhile," Billy said as he gave them all a somewhat perturbed look and they quickly powered down. It had been a long time since Jason, Kim, and Tommy had seen Billy this aggravated, but they were all sure that it would soon go away. He was able to solve almost anything and when he finally figured it out the frustration would go away.

"What's going on?" Kim asked as Billy let out a long sigh and pulled her to the side. He was not sure he wanted all of the rangers to hear the problem, but Kim would be fairly safe. She didn't have as much to lose as the others did if the problem was not solved quickly.

"The link between here and Eltar is broken. It may take weeks to repair and until then I am not sure what Zordon will have you doing, but going back to work does not seem to be an option. He wants all of you to be able to come at the drop of a pin. We may only have a short time to send you back once it happens," Billy whispered as he looked through some scans, with an almost casual demeanor about him. Kim had no clue as to what he might be looking for, but she knew better than to interrupt him while he was working.

"What about Tommy's job? And Jason's business? What are they going to do?" Kim whispered back, urgently, as Billy just shook his head. He was not sure if Tommy was even going to be allowed out of the Command Center to give his case at Reefside High School, but he didn't want to say that right now. He felt it wouldn't be safe and as for Jason's business, it would be fine. He had enough associates to insure that even if he was absent that the business would still go on.

"I'm not sure, Kim, but it's best that you not mention this to them. I'm sure that Zordon will explain all that he wants to when the time comes," Billy said as Kim nodded her head and then turned and accidentally bumped into Hayley.

"I'm sorry, Hayley," Kim said as Hayley registered who she was and she knew that meant that Jason was back, but all she wanted to do was go take a nap. She had been up for the last few days, making sure that all of them were all right and now that they were back, she was going to finally rest.

"It's fine," Hayley said and then let out a wide yawn as she continued towards the hospital bay, where she knew there was a cot that she could catch a nap on.

"What's going on with her?" Kim asked Billy with a concerned look on her face as Billy just shrugged. He was not going to get himself in the middle of a fight by telling Kim what was going on. That information was left up to Hayley and Jason. "Billy, you know what it is. Why aren't you telling us?"

"It's not my responsibility to tell what it is. You'd have to ask one of them," Billy said as he walked back over to the modules, leaving Kim in a fuming silence. She now knew that Billy and Jason knew what was going on, but what could it be? Why were they the only two that knew about it?

"Come on, Jase…spill it," Tommy said as Jason looked over at him, giving him a questioning gaze. He knew what Tommy was talking about, but he didn't want to make himself relive it again. He hadn't thought about his first love in a long time, but with Hayley being pregnant, he couldn't help but remember the child he could have had and the woman that was carrying it. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't act like you're clueless."

"We better go somewhere else if we are going to talk. None of the others need to hear it," Jason said as Tommy just nodded his head and let him lead the way out of the control room and up onto the roof.

"What is so controversial that we have to come up here to talk about it?" Tommy asked as Jason let out a long sigh and looked away from Tommy. He didn't know if he had the strength to explain all of this to him right now, but he knew that he had lived with the secret for far too long and it was time to finally come clean to someone. Tommy was not necessarily his first pick, but he at least knew that he wouldn't judge him. He had been through too much himself to judge someone else for their short comings.

"It's just a long story and I don't think anyone else could take it right now. You may not be able to take it yourself. I don't know if you'll believe me," Jason said as Tommy nodded his head, but remained silent. He was not going to try to prod Jason along in any direction if he could manage it. He really didn't know where to prod him and he was not comfortable taking the chance of pushing him in the wrong direction. It seemed important that Jason just say this to someone and he did not want to tempt him into silence. "It all started about three months before Trini died."

"Jase, that was ten years ago. What does that have to do with what is going on now?" Tommy asked as Jason nodded his head and Tommy gave him a look of utter confusion.

What could have happened ten years ago that still had such a vast effect on his life? He knew that Trini's death was going to haunt Jason until his dying day, but suddenly he knew there was more to it that he had ever known. He just hoped that he would be able to handle whatever sort of confession came out of Jason's mouth. He seemed to need some moral support and he was going to just try to do that, if at all possible.

"I know, but there were things going on back then that only I knew about," Jason said as Tommy just nodded his head. He appreciated the silence, but he was not sure where he needed to start. Tommy didn't know about any of it, but he didn't think he could really put himself through the entire three months. He couldn't relive all the hours he had spent with her just holding her to make sure she slept all right and paying for it in the morning, when he went back to school on only a couple hours of sleep. He knew that Tommy meant well, but he couldn't pass that burden on to someone else. He couldn't tell them everything; he wanted to keep as much of it just between the two of them, the way she wanted it. He just had to get the important information off his chest. "There is no easy way to say this, but Trini was pregnant when she died."

"What?" Tommy asked, as Jason looked down at the steel roof, trying to think of a response, but luckily for him, Tommy had more to say. "Why didn't you tell someone? Why didn't you tell us about it? We would have given you a break. We would have let you be with her more if we had known."

"I didn't want to bother the rest of you with worrying about me while we were fighting. When she died, I didn't think that I could bear to admit that I had lost two people that day and I needed to keep fighting. It would have been too much to take at the time to tell everyone about that. The only ones that know, besides me, are her parents and mine," Jason said as he wiped his eyes to try to prevent himself from breaking down into sobs. He had told himself that he would be able to do this without breaking down, but he was still struggling with that ideal more than any other. "Hayley doesn't even know about it. I should tell her, but I don't think right now would be a very good time to bring that up."

"So she's pregnant," Tommy said, carefully, as Jason nodded his head yes.

"Yeah. I didn't want any of you to know because I knew we would be leaving soon, but Katie figured it out and I was sure that the rest of you would come around some day," Jason said as Tommy smiled.

"Don't tell her while you have to be away. She does deserve to know everything about what condition Trini was in when she died, though. It will make a lot of things clear to her, but don't tell her while you are going to be away. I don't know if she would be able to take it well. She's worried about you enough as is," Tommy said as Jason could only nod.

"Do you think I should tell the others?" Jason asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders.

"You do what you have to do. I'm sure that Zack and Kim and Billy would definitely like to know, but they can live without knowing it right now. I don't know if you want to put yourself through that emotional hell, because the three of them are not going to be as understanding. That was Kim's best friend and she'll probably be beside herself because she would have known if Trini had been pregnant," Tommy said as Jason just nodded and then stared out at the desert that surrounded them.

"How the hell did we get ourselves back into this?" Jason asked as Tommy let out a laugh. He had thought about that question many times and he had finally given up on trying to find an answer to it. It seemed to him that he was just destined to be called away from his work and home at the most inconvenient of times to serve on a ranger team.

"I quit asking myself that when I became the black dino ranger. These things are just going to happen, no matter what we do to try to stop them. I think we've been jinxed to be rangers until we can barely move and even then we'll wind up in the Command Center doing whatever is needed," Tommy said as he gave Jason a pat on the back and then turned to go back into the Command Center, sensing that he was going to need sometime alone after that confession.

The other rangers had often speculated that something else might have been going on, but now that he knew, he was not so sure that he wanted to know. The knowledge of what Jason had been living with had nearly killed any chance at love, but he had been lucky to find someone again. He just didn't know if Jason was really ready for what was ahead. He still hadn't been ready to just come out and say he was dating Hayley and now marriage was definitely in the picture.

"Ya'll said you would explain how you defeated the dubons," Katie said as Kim nodded her head and Tommy walked back in the room, looking slightly pained.

"It's not that long of a story, for once," Tommy said as he sat down next to her and she looked up at him. Most of the stories she had heard of the rangers had been lengthy tales, but it seemed that everything that went along with this mission was short.

"So what happened?" Katie asked, impatiently, as Tommy leaned back and looked over at Kim and Conner.

"Well, once you disappeared into that hole…"

_Flashback_

"Holy crap," Kim said as a burst of neon energy emitted from the crack and threw several of the dubons into the air and rendered them completely useless. She had no clue what had caused it, but she was glad to see the numbers had been reduced.

"I hope Katie's all right," Tommy muttered as he watch several of the dubons around him start to disintegrate as Conner shot fire out of his hands, which was definitely something new. "How the hell are you doing that?"

"No clue really, but it's a nice addition. I think that I still have a lot to learn about these powers," Conner said as the other rangers nodded, between Jason's propulsion, Katie's shield and Conner's fire, they were pretty well set up for anything that came their way.

"Kim, watch out!" Jason yelled as a dubon nailed Kim in the back of the head, which caused her to fall to the ground for a few moments.

"I'm fine, Tommy, don't do anything crazy," Kim said as Tommy continued to attack a nearby dubon.

"Good thing you said something, I was about to come check on you," Tommy said as Jason and Conner just shook their heads and continued to fight.

"What was that?" Kim asked as the ground beneath her shook and she just managed to keep herself upright.

"No clue," Jason said as he watched the remaining dubons disappear from sight. He could only think that they had gone to help Belstan against Katie and he did not like the odds of that fight.

"We better go help," Tommy said as Kim ran over to the crack in the ground and vaulted into it while they ran to search for an entrance that they could use to enter the cave.

_End of Flashback_

"…That is when we came into the lair. You know the rest of what happened," Tommy said as Katie smiled over at him. They then saw Keema and Anthony land and they looked rather disturbed.

"What's happened?" Billy asked as the two of them sat down next to Alexa, who could only guess what the looks on their faces might mean.

"Some of your students know or are at least hypothesizing that you are rangers," Anthony said as Katie and Tommy exchanged a glance. They could only guess who might take that much time to find something out.

"Angelina and Garrett, right?" Katie asked as Anthony merely nodded his head and Katie let out a long sigh. "Well, Tommy. We might as well go back to Reefside and try to go to school tomorrow. I'm afraid that you are going to be facing a trial from the principal."

"You can't leave the Command Center," Billy said, as Katie looked over at him, rather confused.

"Why can't we? The teleportation power that it would take to get all of us to Eltar is unstable right now. As long as you don't teleport us back while we're at school, everything will be fine," Katie said as the other rangers looked at her.

"It is very likely that that will be the exact time that we have to teleport you back here. We will only have a certain frame of time to teleport you to Eltar. We need you to be as close as possible," Billy said as Tommy looked over at him.

"Can we at least just go home and sleep in our own beds?" Tommy asked as Billy looked down at the floor. He did not know the answer to that question and he was not going to try to answer it without Zordon's approval.

"Yes, you will be allowed to go home and Tommy, you and Katie are allowed to go to school tomorrow. We will not be at the right angle to Eltar then either," Zordon said as the two of them looked at each other and smiled. They really wanted to sleep in their own beds. They knew it would be much more recuperative than if they had to stay here and try to sleep with all the work that Billy was doing.

"Can we go now?" Tommy asked as he stood up and Zordon merely nodded his head yes.

"Jason, do take Hayley home and insure that she gets some rest. She has not been sleeping well while you were away," Zordon said as Jason nodded, while Katie, Tommy, Conner, and Billy looked over at him.

"Where are you going?" Katie asked Kim as she shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really want to go back to her apartment above the gymnastics center, but that seemed like her only option.

"She's coming with us. I'm going to need all the positive energy that I can manage if I am going to make it through tomorrow and still have a job," Tommy said as Kim merely nodded. "We'll see you later Zordon. Just contact us before we are going to be brought here."

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, let me know how you feel about it, the good and the bad! Toodles!


	33. Back to School

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, and Alison Hutchinson.

"Uh," Tommy groaned as he sat up so that he could turn off the alarm clock, which had been beeping for the last few minutes. For once in his life he knew that he had to be to school on time, otherwise his punishment was going to be much worse, although he was not sure if he would be able to get out of bed. His body needed more rest, as he hadn't realized how much the short battle had drained him, until now. Why did he have a job that he had to show up at today?

"You want some breakfast?" Kim asked as she looked over at him and he merely nodded.

He had to hop into the shower before he was going to have the chance to be a normal human being again. He never missed having to go on long missions, but after just being on one, he was sure that he couldn't hold up for many more of these adventures. He had to admit that he was getting too old to do this on a daily basis.

"This is going to be the day from hell," Katie said as she sat down at the kitchen table and watched Kim fix breakfast.

She was still drained from their recent fight and she didn't really want to face her friends right now. She knew that if Garrett and Angelina knew something that they would ask her about it. She didn't have a choice but to lie, although she didn't really like that idea at all. They knew her well enough that they might just be able to tell that she was lying and she couldn't risk that right now either. She needed this to go off flawlessly.

"Yeah, I think that is what your brother is thinking too," Kim said as Katie got herself a glass of milk and then sat back down. She had a horrible headache, but she didn't want to take anything for it. She knew she needed to be as alert as possible. "I have never known him to get up when the alarm clock goes off before."

"Same here, I wonder what lie he is going to tell to try to get himself out of this one. I don't see how it's going to work. He'd have to be the best liar in the world to pull this off," Katie said as Kim shrugged her shoulders. Tommy was right up there on the list of people that could lie to anyone and not regret it.

Tommy had talked to her about it last night, but he hadn't been able to come up with a plausible excuse. They were royally screwed if he didn't come up with one sometime soon, because telling the truth was not an option here. He'd just have to lose his job if it came down to that, which was something that none of them wanted to see happen.

"I don't know. He'll come up with something. He always has in the past and he's always managed to get himself off the hook," Kim said as Katie nodded her head. She knew he would come up with something, but she needed to have the same lie to tell to all of her friends so that the principal would hear the same thing everywhere he went.

"I kinda need to be let in on the secret. I wouldn't doubt the principal asking my friends about it too and we don't need to have two very different stories," Katie said as Kim placed pancakes on the table and Katie grabbed a couple for herself. "Did you sleep good?"

"Yeah, like a log, but your brother tossed and turned all night. He managed to wake me up a couple of times too and I don't like when that happens," Kim said as Katie just shook her head, as Tommy walked into the kitchen, with a shirt thrown over his shoulder and his pants only halfway zipped.

"You still have forty minutes before we have to leave Tommy, chill out. Everything is going to be all right," Katie said as Tommy looked over at her and then continued to the laundry room so that he could iron his shirt.

"I'll iron, you eat. You're going to need something on your stomach," Kim said, cutting him off as Tommy looked down at her and then gave her an appreciative smile. He was sure that he would burn something this morning, but he needed to look as good as possible, so that his blessing out might not be so bad.

He knew that it was going to be one of the ten most unpleasant things that he would experience this year, but it didn't begin to top his all time list. That was when Kimberly lost her powers and almost died. The next one was the loss of his parents and after that came when Kimberly had been captured by Divatox and almost killed. He was sure if Katie got inside his mind, she would think he was crazy, but the three people he loved most in the world were at the top of the list and his parents' death was, basically, a tie with Kim. He knew that he couldn't move her from there because of the one thing that still rung out in his mind. He could have lost her that day and by some miracle he didn't, that's why it stuck out.

"What story do we have Tommy?" Katie asked as Tommy put a forkful of pancakes in his mouth and she couldn't help but smile. She was surprised he was able to even shove anything down his throat, but he was doing a very good job today.

"I'll fill you in on the way to school. We're going to be leaving as soon as Kim finishes ironing that shirt. I would much rather take my lashing when there is no one else around to see it because I am afraid it will be much worse with more people there. I know some of the teachers would be glad to see me gone," Tommy said as Katie stared at him in shock. He had always aspired to be able to be at school early, but he had never done anything about it to get him there early. That had never been a top priority on his list of things to do.

"Tommy, I don't think it is going to be as bad as you think it is going to be," Katie said as Tommy looked over at her.

"I have a record against me, Kate. I missed two weeks of school last year without an excuse because the dino rangers had their last battle. I've already missed a couple weeks so far this year and we are probably going to have to miss a lot more while we are on Eltar. It's not looking good for my job," Tommy said as Katie nodded. She had always been a good student, but even she was not excited to go back to school and have to make up two weeks of work. Although the mission only took a few days, they had had to go earlier than expected and she hadn't had a chance to get the work from the days she missed when they first got their powers. "But don't worry about your work. They can't punish you for something that I caused."

"So you are taking the fall for everything?" Katie asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Tommy, you shouldn't have to do that."

"It's all that I can do, you're my responsibility and I've gotten most of my story worked out so that we can actually make this work. I just have to call David and give him a heads up," Tommy said as Katie merely nodded her head.

She had heard of David and knew that it was Tommy's real brother, but she had never met him in person. Tommy talked to him about once a week, but because of their busy schedule, he hadn't been able to find time to go see him lately.

"Here you go," Kim said as she brought his white shirt back in and he put down his fork and slipped it on. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, I just need to go ahead and leave. I don't need any other reasons to be yelled at when I get there," Tommy said as Kim nodded and then looked at Katie. He seemed desperate to keep his job and the two of them were going to try to help him in every way possible.

"Have a good day," Kim said as Katie looked back at her and shook her head. This was not going to be a pretty day by any means.

_At School_

"Where have you been?" Anderson asked as Tommy walked into the main building a full thirty minutes early with his sister tagging behind him. He knew about the mountain of work that she had to make up, but he doubted that was the reason that Tommy had showed up early today. Tommy knew what was coming when he walked into the office and he just seemed to want to get it over with. He hated to think he might be losing a colleague, but it did seem very possible.

"My brother was put in the hospital at the end of last week and I had to go up there and take care of him. I didn't think to call the school and tell them that I was not going to be able to be here," Tommy said as Katie walked past them so that she could go to her locker and then wait outside for her friends. She didn't know if she would be able to pull the story off as well as her brother and she didn't want to seem shocked about it, either. It was still pretty new to her and he would probably think of details that she couldn't copy in her wildest dreams. She was surprsied at how good he was at making up these tales.

"Wingard is not going to like that," Anderson said as Tommy nodded his head and then walked on towards the office. He knew that Andie was going to give him the cold shoulder, but maybe she would help him in some way.

"Hey, Andie," Tommy said, softly, as he walked in and signed in next to his name which had been ominously crossed out. He could only hope that they had just had no faith in him returning this week, considering it was a Thursday, and that it was not because they had already fired him and were just waiting to notify him upon his return.

"Good morning, Dr. Oliver," Andie said as she heard his voice and then she suddenly looked up. She had not expected him to come back at all and why did he look so tired? "Tommy? What's happened? Why haven't you been here?"

"My brother was in the hospital. It kinda slipped my mind to call in and tell you where I was," Tommy said as Andie nodded her head and then looked over at the principal's office. Principal Wingard was already in, but she was not sure if she should make Tommy go back there.

"You better go talk to Principal Wingard. He's not too happy with you," Andie said as Tommy nodded and then walked towards the office.

"Principal Wingard?" Tommy said tentatively as he opened the door and Principal Wingard looked up from his work.

"It is about time you decided to come to work Dr. Oliver. Please sit down and explain yourself. I am in a very good mind to fire you right now, without hearing you out. You have been gone for nearly a week without any excuse and you also have missed quite a few other days for unknown reasons this year, Dr. Oliver," Principal Wingard said as Tommy sat down and looked around the office. He had been in here a few times before, but it had never been when he was almost sure that he would be fired by the time that he left the office.

"Last Thursday night my brother was in a car accident. The doctors were not sure if he was going to make it, so I went down to Angel Grove and stayed at the hospital with him. I didn't think about calling the school. I just got home last night and he's going to be all right, but there is still no telling what else might come up that will take me back down there," Tommy said as Principal Wingard gave him a critical look.

"I didn't know that you had a brother. I was under the impression that you were an only, adopted, child," Principal Wingard said and Tommy inwardly smiled. He had been expecting him to say that, not many people had the slightest idea about his brother and that was why he used him. He was not going to use someone that Principal Wingard might actually see in the street.

"Not many people do know about it, I only found out about him during my senior year in high school. We're not really close, but he is the only blood family that I have and since my blood was an exact match, they went ahead and took some from me, in case he needed it. I stayed because I felt that I should. He would have done the same things for me," Tommy said as Principal Wingard nodded. He was going to have to check into this story, but he was sure that it was true. Who would come up with this elaborate of a lie?

"All right, Oliver, but you need to keep in mind that I have a replacement waiting if you miss one more unexcused day this year. Do you understand me?" Principal Wingard asked as Tommy eagerly shook his head yes. He understood it all too well, but he just wondered what sort of lie he was going to come up with to explain his absence when he went to Eltar. He was quickly running out of people that he could put in the hospital and he would hate to say that David or someone died, just to get him off the hook with his boss.

"Do you still have job?" Andie asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and then walked over and gave her a hug.

"Sorry I hurt you Andie," Tommy said as she looked up at him in shock. What was going on here? He walks into work, early, for the first time in years, he is civil, and now he's apologizing for breaking her heart? What had happened to him over the last week to cause all of this? "I never meant to do that to you."

"I'm fine Tommy," Andie said as she removed his arms from around her and gave him a very weak smile. She couldn't take him touching her anymore and she just had to restrain herself from holding onto him too long. She knew that there was someone else there for him now and as much as she would like to be there, he hadn't chosen her, which hurt. "Now, you might want to go tell your sister that you still have a job here. I imagine that she would want to know."

"Thank you," Tommy said as he ran out of the office, leaving Andie there completely bewildered.

"He's an amazing person, isn't he?" Alison Hutchinson, the assistant principal, said as Andie nodded her head. "He was like that in high school too."

"Yeah, but not many people hold onto that part of themselves. It usually gets smashed by something," Andie said as Alison nodded and walked over to stand by Andie.

"And he does mean that he's sorry. There is only one person in the world that he would leave you like that for," Alison said as Andie looked over at her. She was not sure that she wanted to know who it was, but she was sure that she wanted to ask about it now.

"Who's that?" Andie asked as Alison clenched her teeth then looked over at Andie. She wasn't sure if she was the one who needed to say it, but she had opened that box of worms and didn't feel she would be able to close it. She could only hope that Tommy would forgive her for this in the end.

"Kimberly Hart, his high school girlfriend," Alison said as Andie looked over at her. She certainly had never heard that name before now and she was sure that it showed. She thought that she had met all of his ex-girlfriends, but obviously one had been left out and for good reason from what she could tell. "You probably have never heard of her, he didn't talk about her much after their break up. But they were in love and I can only guess that there is still something there."

"That's nice to know," Andie said, bitterly, as Alison could only shake her head.

"Don't hold it against him. He is trying to tell you himself and he will if you don't throw him out of the office first, next time," Alison said as she turned and walked to her office. "If you need me for anything, just come and find me."

"Katie!" Tommy yelled as she turned around and looked over at him. Angelina and Garrett had just walked up and thankfully, they had not had a chance to ask where she had been, yet.

"What, Tommy?" Katie asked as he walked up beside her. "Well, you're not mad, so what's going on?"

"I still have a job, right now," Tommy said as Katie nodded her head and looked over at him. The right now part did not sound too good. She was going to have to talk to him about that when they were away from prying eyes and ears.

"Thank goodness," Angelina said as Tommy looked over at her, wondering why she would even think that his job might be in question. "Our last sub was going to be your replacement. She told us that yesterday."

"Great," Tommy said as he turned and walked back inside. He did not like to know that they already had a replacement waiting in the wings when he did the next stupid thing he was bound to do. "We're going to have class this afternoon, by the way. Spread the word, will you?"

"What has been going on with the two of you?" Angelina asked as Katie looked over at the two of them.

"His brother was in a car accident and we stayed with him in the hospital for a few days," Katie said as Angelina and Garrett stared at her.

"He has a brother?" Garrett asked, as Katie nodded her head.

"Yeah, they really look alike. You can tell that they are blood brothers and not adopted like the two of us. I only met him a few weeks ago. It was the first time that all three of us could get together," Katie said as Angelina and Garrett nodded their heads.

"So why were all your cars at home?" Angelina asked as Katie looked over at her and shook her head.

"Jason had picked us up that evening and we were in Angel Grove. Why come back and get a car when you are that close to hospital that he is in?" Katie asked as Angelina and Garrett looked at each other. They still didn't believe that they were at the hospital, but what could they do about it? Unless they went and found Tommy's brother and could convince him to tell them the truth, then they were just back at square one.

"Do you have any clue what he might have in store for us tonight?" Angelina asked, as Katie shook her head no.

If she knew what he brother was up to, she would let them in on it, but he hadn't even told her that they were having a lesson. She had thought that he would take the afternoon off and try to straighten out the other things that were bound to pop up.

"Nope, I actually thought that he might let us off the hook, to be honest with you," Katie said as she sat down and pulled out her Calculus book. "Now what did I miss?"

_The Dojo_

"Good afternoon class," Tommy said as he walked into the dojo and saw his advanced students stretching on the floor. He noticed that Katie was working on some sort of problem while she was stretching, but he didn't bother to stop her. She had a pile of work to get done over the next three days and knowing that she might have to leave at any time really pushed her to get it done today. She didn't need to be any more behind than she could help when she left again.

"Good afternoon," some of the students replied as they continued to stretch while he walked over to a remote corner of the room to stretch himself.

"Why the hell are you working today?" Jason asked as he walked up to Tommy and he looked over at him in shock. What was Jason doing here? He had thought that he had returned to Angel Grove first thing this morning. "I thought you were going to rest."

"Jason, my ass is on the line at the school. If I don't keep the dojo running I may have nothing to fall back on when we get back and I'm fired," Tommy whispered as he shook his head. He hated knowing that was what was coming, but it was the truth of the matter. "And why are you dressed like you are ready to spar as well?"

"I thought you could use some help and I need to talk to you about Hayley once the class is over with," Jason said as Tommy nodded his head and then stood up. He was going to have to start working if he hoped to have this class finish sometime this century. They hadn't worked out in over two weeks and he doubted that any of them wanted to have a short lesson today.

"That doesn't sound too good," Tommy said as Jason could only shake his head. Nothing had gone wrong, but Jason was getting the feeling that all hell was about to break loose. He was a ranger again, he was expecting his second child and he was not sure he was ready for all of this to happen again.

"It's not anything to really worry about Tommy, but I need to ask you about what…expectations she might have," Jason said as Katie walked over to the two of them and gave Jason a stern look.

"A ring and a wedding day, Jason," Katie said as Tommy nodded his head and Jason sighed. He didn't know if he was ready to get married. He loved Hayley, but he still couldn't manage to let go of Trini.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready for all of that. I have a lot to still come clean about," Jason whispered as the two of them looked over at him.

"You should have thought about that before you became 'friends'," Katie said as she walked over to where Angelina and Garrett were standing.

"I don't know where she got that from," Jason said as Tommy called the class to order.

"Neither do I, but it has come in handy a few times in the past," Tommy said as he started assigning partners for the days workout schedule. He tried to switch around whom they would wind up with, but sometimes he just had to keep the same two people working together.

AN: Tell me what you think! I am craving some reviews, even if they are short and sweet, or long and horrible. Let me know what you think! Toodles!


	34. Fainted

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, and Dr. Vestwick.

"Tommy, why did you have to kill us today? I thought that you might want a little break as well," Katie said as she limped out of the dojo with her brother only a few feet behind her. She had thought that he would not put them through a hellacious workout, but she had been very wrong and she knew that she was going to be sore in the morning, which was just one more thing that she didn't need.

"I needed a workout, Kate. Sorry it hurt you," Tommy said as Jason just shook his head. The two of them had sparred together and actually had a very good time, as opposed to the rest of the class who had been trying to keep up with them, which was nearly impossible. They did have quite a few more years experience doing karate.

"Am I going to be forced to stay in my room while the adults talk?" Katie asked as Jason and Tommy laughed. At times that would have been considered, but this was not one of those times.

"No, we're actually going to head up to Hayley's and help her shut down for the night. Then we'll see if you have to be shut in your room," Tommy said as Katie looked at him with an odd stare.

"You know, don't you?" Katie asked as Tommy nodded his head and Jason walked over to his truck.

He was worried about Hayley more than he could tell all of them. She had been so tired when she got up this morning and he really wished that she would have just stayed at home and not gone into work. She, however, insisted upon it and he didn't feel that he could stop her. She was trying to lead a normal life, while doing ranger work and that was just exhausting. He just hoped that she had not pushed herself over the limit today.

"I know more than you, Kate," Tommy said as Katie nodded her head as Jason looked over at the two of them. He knew that Tommy wouldn't tell his secret, but he also knew that Katie might try to get it out of Tommy sometime in the future, which did not comfort him any. "Come on, let's go."

_Hayley's Cyberspace_

"Hayley, are you all right?" Kasi asked as Hayley sat down on a stool behind the bar and placed her head in her hands. She hadn't been feeling so great all day and she now wished she would have taken Jason's advice and just stayed at home and got some rest. Her body was begging her to do that right now and she knew it was in her best interest to close up for the night and go home and get some rest. If she didn't do that the likely repercussions was something that she knew Jason couldn't deal with right now.

"Just tired, Kasi. Why don't you go ahead and go home? I'm going to be closing up early tonight. I gotta get home and try to get some rest," Hayley said as the cyberspace was fairly empty and she really wanted to go home. She knew that it was time to start listening to her body, because it was definitely sending signals up in the air right now.

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest if you can Hayley," Kasi said as she placed her apron on a peg and then turned to go out the door.

"Another day like this and I am going to have to get someone to look after this place for me," Hayley muttered as she stood up and reached for the drawer that held today's profits. That was when the doorbell rang and she merely shook her head. She was not having any more customers tonight. She just couldn't handle it. "I'm closing up for the night. You can come back tomorrow."

"We came to help you close," Jason said as he walked over to her and gave her a hug. She looked worse than she had this morning and he was afraid that if she didn't get home and rest that something bad was going to happen.

"Thanks," Hayley said, weakly, as Tommy and Katie began to put chairs on top of the tables around the café.

"Why don't you sit down and we'll finish up whatever you need us to do?" Jason suggested as Hayley grabbed both of his hands. She suddenly felt dizzy and she didn't know why. She had managed to eat some supper, which was more than what she could say she usually did, but she still didn't feel like she should. "You okay?"

"I don't know, Jase. I guess it's just getting used to being pregnant," Hayley whispered as Tommy and Katie continued picking up around the café. They knew that Jason just wanted to get her home as quickly as possible. She looked like she hadn't slept any last night and they knew that she needed to get some rest. She was going to be losing enough sleep when they left to go to Eltar within the next few weeks.

"You want me to take you home?" Jason asked as she gave a slight shake of her head no.

"I think I'll be okay. I'm just tired, Jase," Hayley said as she let go of his hands and picked up the drawer to take it back to her office and empty it of its contents.

"Do we need to mop the floors?" Katie asked as Hayley shook her head no and then continued back towards her office. "Is she all right?"

"I don't think so," Jason said as he looked at the two of them. Tommy could only imagine the thoughts that were flashing through his mind and he knew that Jason couldn't take it right now.

"She's had a long couple of days. I'm sure that she'll be better once she gets some rest," Tommy said as they heard something crash and they all exchanged a glance before Jason ran off to check on her.

"Something tells me we are in for a long night," Katie whispered as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. He hated to agree to that statement because neither of them could afford to miss another day, but they would deal with tomorrow when it came.

"Hayley? Are you all right?" Jason asked as he walked back into her office and saw that she was lying on the floor. A sudden image of Trini's body in the casket flashed in his mind as he bent down next to her and quickly picked her up. Nothing was going to happen to Hayley. He couldn't stand to lose her too. "Call the paramedics!"

"Shit," Tommy muttered as he grabbed his cell phone and punched in 9-1-1. He knew that something must be wrong if Jason was yelling out that order. He had only done it once before and that was when Tommy had fainted after the loss of his powers. "Katie, I need you to drive home and get Kim. Then come and meet us at the hospital, you understand?"

"Yeah," Katie said as she took his keys and then ran out of the café. She knew better than to ask him questions when he was giving these types of orders. This was a matter of life and death and that was not something that he toyed around with at all.

"9-1-1 emergency, how may I help you?" a woman's voice rang out across the phone as Jason walked into the front of the café carrying Hayley's limp body.

"I'm at Hayley's Cyberspace in Reefside. We have a pregnant woman that has fainted," Tommy said, as Jason looked over at him, with the fear evident in his eyes. Tommy knew that Jason couldn't go through all of this again and he was sure that Jason was thinking the same thing.

"Hayley's Cyberspace? Do you have a street address?" the operator asked as Tommy walked outside and looked at the side of the building. He knew that the ambulance house was just up the street, but he was not going to argue with the operator right now. He wanted to get the ambulance there as soon as possible.

"Yes, one-five-four-two Third Avenue," Tommy said as he watched Jason place Hayley down on the ground and take her pulse.

"We're sending an ambulance. Please stay on the line until it arrives," the operator said as Jason let out an angry half-sob.

"I will," Tommy said as he looked back over at Jason. "They're sending someone Jase. Don't worry."

"This can't happen again, Tommy. I've already lost one woman I love and a baby. I can't go through that again," Jason said as Tommy walked over to him and gave him a hug. Jason needed it more than anything else that he could give and he could only hope that the ambulance would get here soon.

"You won't. They're going to be here soon and everything is going to work out fine," Tommy said as he walked to the door of the café and looked outside. He couldn't see or hear the sirens, but he was sure that they were coming and that they were going to help them.

_Oliver Residence_

"Katie, what's going on? Where's Tommy?" Kim asked as Katie barged into the house.

All she knew was that something was seriously wrong with Hayley and that she was going to have to fill Kim in on the missing information. Jason might have wanted it to stay a secret, but it couldn't anymore. Whatever was going on with Hayley was going to affect all of them and it was time that all of them knew the situation that she was in.

"I'll explain on the way. We've got to go to the hospital," Katie said as Kim looked at her.

"Is he hurt?" Kim asked, urgently, as she grabbed her purse and walked out after Katie, who quickly turned around and locked the door.

"No, Tommy's fine. It's Hayley that is hurt or something like that," Katie said as Kim hopped in Tommy's jeep and then looked over at Katie.

"What's happened to Hayley?" Kim asked as Katie drove down the driveway, managing to hit every bump along the way.

"She fainted," Katie said, simply, as Kim looked at her again.

"What else is going on?" Kim asked as Katie bit her lower lip and then made the turn onto the main road. She knew it would take her about twenty minutes to get to the hospital and by then, Jason could have gone crazy.

"She's pregnant," Katie said, bluntly, as Kim quickly cleaned out her ears.

She could have sworn that Katie said that Hayley was pregnant, but that had to be wrong. Jason would have told them about something like that before they barged off to some planet to defeat a demented being.

"I couldn't have heard you right. She can't be pregnant. Jason would tell us about that," Kim said as Katie looked over at her and then nodded her head that she had heard her right.

"You heard me right. She's pregnant and Jason wanted to keep it a secret. Don't ask me why," Katie said as Kim grabbed her purse and began digging for her cell phone. She was sure that the other rangers would at least like to know what was going on.

_The Hospital_

"How could I let this happen?" Jason asked as he sat down in a chair in the waiting room. They were not letting him go back and be with her. He knew that it was so that the doctors could take care of her, but he didn't exactly plan on getting in the way either.

"Jason, there is nothing you could have done. Hayley's been under a lot of stress lately. You know that as well as the rest of us. Some times things like this happen and you don't even know if anything bad has happened yet," Tommy said as Jason nodded his head and then placed it in his hands.

"I have to come clean to everyone Tommy. I'm not going to be able to live with myself until I do," Jason said as Tommy nodded and then went silent.

He knew that if Jason decided to talk to the others that it was going to be hard on him and it was going to take him quite some time to work up the courage. It had taken him ten years to admit that Trini had been pregnant to one of them and if he was planning on doing this within the next couple of weeks, then he was going to have to have sometime to plan it out.

"Have you heard anything?" Kim asked as she walked into the waiting room and sat down next to Tommy, who looked very solemn. Hayley was one of his good friends and she understood that this was going to affect him too, she just didn't think it would be this much.

"No, but no news is good news right now. Have you called the others?" Tommy asked, as Kim nodded her head.

"Conner is coming. The others are trying to pull their lives back together before we have to leave again. You know what that's like," Kim said as Tommy nodded and a man in a white coat walked into the room.

"Mr. Scott?" Dr. Vestwick called as he walked into the waiting room and scanned the room to see who would respond to the call.

"Yes," Jason said as he stood up and walked over to the doctor.

"We are going to keep her overnight, merely for observation. We're not sure what caused her to faint, but she's fine and the baby's fine. I just want to make sure that nothing else happens tonight, although I don't think anything will," Dr. Vestwick said as Jason let out a long sigh.

"When can I see her?" Jason asked as Dr. Vestwick looked down at her chart. They were moving her up to a room right now and he couldn't imagine that he couldn't go ahead a head up there.

"You can go right now. She's in room 502," Dr. Vestwick said as Jason nodded his head. "You may just want to take small groups in. I don't know if she's ready for a lot of people."

"Thank you," Jason said as he walked back over to his fellow rangers and sat back down next to Tommy. "We can go on up, but only a few of us can see her at a time."

"Jason, none of us need to see her," Katie said as Jason looked over at her and gave her a thankful smile. "We'll head up once Conner gets here. You go on."

"Tommy, what else is going on here?" Kim asked as she watched Jason head towards the elevators. She could tell that there was some sort of secret between the two of them and she knew that she needed to figure out what it was.

"He'll tell you soon. He's going to tell all of you," Tommy said as he let out a long sigh and put his arm around her. He knew that they were lucky to have a chance to be together again, but after everything that he had learned he felt that they had more luck than they even knew about.

AN: Jason's talk with Hayley is going to be rather extensive, so I want to do it justice, it'll be the main part of the next chapter. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and that you'll let me know what you think about it. Toodles!


	35. To Tell the Truth

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, and Dr. Vestwick.

"Hayley," Jason whispered as he walked in and looked at the hospital bed and had to push some thoughts out of his head. He hadn't been lucky enough to see Trini in one of those beds. She was already dead before he got to see her.

"Hmm," Hayley murmured as she rolled around and finally opened her eyes. She did not want to be awake right now, she just wanted to sleep, but at the sight of Jason she knew that she needed to stay awake for a little while. "Jason."

"Shh, don't talk," Jason said as he pulled his chair up to the side of the bed and sat down in it. He knew that his timing was absolutely horrible, but the longer that he held onto this secret, the worse it was going to get. He could see that now, he just hoped that Hayley was willing to listen to him and would accept what he had to say. "I need to say some things to you."

"I should have listened to you. I wouldn't be here right now if I had. I don't need an I told you so from you, Jase," Hayley said as Jason nodded his head but didn't go and say he told her so. He couldn't do that because of the tight knot he felt in his stomach right now. He knew he should have stopped her from going to work, the baby she was carrying was just as much his responsibility as hers. He just didn't feel that he had the pull to get her to do something like that.

"I'm not mad at you, Hayley. I'm scared," Jason said as he grabbed her hand and stared at her stomach. She was not showing that she was pregnant yet, but he knew that it would appear sooner than they thought it would; it had last time.

"Jase, I've been stressed lately and I just let it get to me. I'm not the first woman that this has ever happened to. You don't need to worry about me and how I'm doing. I'll be fine," Hayley said, cutting in on him again.

"But this reminds me of something that has happened to me before. Hayley, let me tell you something and please don't get angry while I do this. I only have the courage to say this once," Jason said as Hayley looked over at him. What exactly did he have to tell her that was this important?

"All right, if it's that important," Hayley said as she attempted to sit up and Jason then reached across the bed and tilted it up. He could tell that she was still too worn out to really support herself.

"I need to tell you why I have never wanted to settle down with you and why I was so insistent that we be a casual couple when I knew I shouldn't do that to you, when I knew you deserved so much more from me," Jason said as he looked down at the floor. He didn't want to relive it again, but he knew that it was time to let it go. He couldn't do this to himself anymore. He had to be able to live again and Trini would have wanted that for him, more than anything else.

"Okay," Hayley said as she looked over at him and she knew she wanted to go to sleep, but he had a reason for all of this and he wouldn't ask her to stay awake otherwise. She just didn't know what he could possibly have to tell her pertaining to that. She had always assumed it was because of Trini, but he had never said that to her.

She knew what had happened to Trini and she understood that it had scarred Jason for life. She couldn't imagine losing the person that she had imagined spending the rest of her life with at the age of eighteen. Jason had made it out of all of this rather well, but he still held so much back and for some reason he had decided to finally let her in.

"When Trini died ten years ago, she was pregnant. I've never been able to get over losing the two of them at the same time. That's why I've always been casual with you and I don't know if I'm ready yet, but I want to marry you. It's not a question of what my heart wants; it's just really confusing to find myself feeling this way again. I didn't believe that I could for a long time. Please, just be patient with me," Jason pleaded as he cried and Hayley stared at him. She knew that he had kept things from her, but she had never thought that it was something of this magnitude.

"Why have you held onto that for so long?" Hayley asked as Jason sighed. He didn't know how to explain that to her, but he knew better than to not try to explain it.

"I didn't think I could deal with the reality of what I had lost, so I hid it, from everyone. I hurt myself more by doing that, but I wasn't ready to let anyone else feel what I had been through. I still have to tell the others," Jason said as he looked up at Hayley then reached out and gave her a hug.

She had been there for him over the last few years as he struggled to get his masters degree and then went through countless jobs trying to find a place where he fit. She had listened to him all those nights and held him when all he could do was cry. He knew even then that she had been settling for being casual just to have him and now he fully wanted her. He wanted to be able to truly live again.

"Who else knows?" Hayley asked as Jason sighed. She could read him so well and he was grateful from that sometimes, but tonight was not one of those times. "Come on, Jase, I know you told someone else first."

"Tommy, I told him when we got back from Denlar. Going on a mission kinda made me think about what had happened then and I don't want to go through it again," Jason said as Hayley nodded then slumped back against the bed and let out a long sigh. As much as she wanted to be compassionate, she was so tired that she couldn't stay awake much longer and she only hoped that Jason would understand. "I'll leave if you want to be able to get some rest."

"Stay. I hate hospitals," Hayley said as Jason smiled and lowered her bed bad down to where she could sleep.

"I might need to tell the others that I'm staying so that they can go home and get some rest," Jason said as he looked down at his watch and saw it was already eleven o'clock. He knew Tommy had to get to school tomorrow and he needed some rest if he was going to manage to get to school on time.

"What others?" Hayley asked as she could only remember Jason being at the cyberspace before she fainted.

"Tommy, Kim, and Katie," Jason said as Hayley looked even more confused. "Tommy and Katie were at the cyberspace to help clean up when you fainted. Tommy drove my car over here and Katie went to get Kim."

"Can I see them?" Hayley asked as Jason gave her a long look. He could tell that she was tired and needed some rest, but he didn't see any harm in them visiting her. It might make her feel better and he was up for anything that did that.

"Yeah, I'll bring them in," Jason said as he bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"How is she?" Conner asked as soon as Jason walked in. He noticed three new faces and gave Tommy a confused look. All he knew was that Conner was coming and he had thought that was going to take a little while.

"She's all right, just tired. Who are you?" Jason asked looking at the other three and they all exchanged a glance.

"I'm Kira Ford," Kira said with a bright smile. They had all been visiting Conner when he got the call from Kim, so they decided to come with him as well. They were honestly surprised that Conner was a ranger again, but he had been in the right place at the right time.

"Ethan James," Ethan said.

"Trent Fernadez," Trent said, as Jason gave them a nod.

"Are you…other…students?" Jason asked looking over at Tommy and he gave him a subtle nod.

"Yes," Kira said with a smile as Katie yawned and leaned over against Conner's shoulder. It was way past her bedtime and she still had to get up and go to school in the morning.

"Hayley wanted to see ya'll," Jason said as they all nodded and then looked over at Tommy.

"What are you looking at me for?" Tommy asked as they stood up and started to follow Jason.

"I'm just waiting to see what excuse you make up for us being late to school tomorrow. This story is about to get more interesting," Katie said, as Tommy let out a long sigh. He didn't want to go to school tomorrow, but if he was going to be fired it was going to be while he was on Eltar, fighting to save that planet. It was not going to be because of the fact that he felt he could not pull himself out of bed. "Is David going to have a relapse?"

"Don't even go there. I hate to think what will happen to me if I'm even late. We're just going to have to make it tomorrow. I don't know how we're going to do it, but we have to," Tommy said as the four Dino Rangers exchanged a glance before Trent spoke up.

"What's going on with your job?" Trent asked as Tommy let out a sigh, before turning to face them.

"I'll probably be fired before this nine weeks is over with," Tommy said as they looked at him, in shock. How was he going to make ends meet without that job? The dojo was no where near that successful, unless things had drastically changed in the last few months. "It's all right, the dojo is doing good and I'm starting to attract some college students that can fill in day classes. It'll work out."

"Hey, guys," Hayley said as they walked in and she gave Jason a confused look. She had thought that it was just going to be Tommy, Kim, and Katie. "Where did they come from?"

"We were visiting Conner and got the call about you being here, so we all piled up and came," Ethan said as Hayley nodded and then let out a long yawn.

"Hayley, I'm sorry to make this short, but if we're going to have any hope of waking up in time to go to school, then we have to go," Tommy said as he walked over and gave her a hug. "Rest, you need it."

"Yes, sir," Hayley said, almost bitterly, as Tommy gave her a harsh look. They had things that they could risk, but their health was not one of those things and Hayley was just going to have to get used to the way that rangers looked out for each other. She was not a ranger, but she did work with them and she had to remember that.

"He always has to say something like that," Trent commented as Tommy, Katie, and Kim left.

"Hell, he's been in a hospital bed more than the rest of us. He should know when someone needs rest," Kira said as Jason and Hayley exchanged a glance. They knew that she was speaking the truth, but he didn't have experience in this area of life, as he had never and would never be pregnant. "So what's going on Hayley? We couldn't get it out of him."

"Hey, I was not getting in trouble with Katie. You think that Dr. O is bad, she's worse," Conner said as Hayley and Jason laughed. If Katie was here Conner would have been slapped, but he accepted all of that, considering the fact that it was rare that she really slapped him with her full force.

"How can she be worse than Dr. O?" Kira asked as Jason and Conner looked over at her. "That's got to be humanly impossible."

"You just need to spend one day with her, you'll see what he means," Jason said as Conner nodded his head in agreement.

"You still haven't said what's going on," Ethan pointed out as Hayley let out a sigh and looked up at Jason, who could only shake his head. It was quickly spreading that Hayley was pregnant and they really wanted to keep it hidden as long as they could. It seemed like their secret was only going to last a couple more days at this rate.

"I'm pregnant," Hayley said as the three rangers stared at her in shock and then looked over at Jason, to see if maybe he had some sort of explanation as to why he was here. They knew he was a friend of Tommy's, but they had never seen him around Hayley until today.

"So why is he here?" Trent asked as Conner looked at him and just shook his head.

"Father," Conner said as the three of them looked at him. Surely if Hayley had a boyfriend they would have known about it as much as they had spent time at the Cyberspace last year.

"I'm still confused here. That doesn't explain where he came from and how he came into the picture," Ethan said as Jason and Conner exchanged a glance. Conner could tell that Jason wanted for them to go ahead and head home, since he would have to work tomorrow. He would definitely like for them to stop by while he was at work, but how could he get that across without being mean?

"I'll fill you in on the way back to my place. We really do need to let Hayley get some rest. I'll stop by tomorrow if I have the time," Conner said as Jason mouthed thank you to him while the others sighed and then nodded their heads. As much as they wanted to talk to Hayley, they knew that she deserved some rest.

"We'll see you sometime soon Hayley. I think that we'll all be home for Thanksgiving," Trent said as Conner pushed them out the door and closed it behind him.

"They're great kids, Jason," Hayley said as Jason sat down and just shook his head.

"They have to be to get Tommy's approval. You know how he is about most of the kids that he teaches," Jason said as Hayley laughed and then scooted over to the edge of the bed.

"Come on, there's room enough for you," Hayley said as Jason looked over at her and forced himself to push out the image of Trini when she had begged him to stay some of those nights. He then reached down and took off his shoes and socks, before he climbed into the bed next to her. "Jase, it's okay, I know it's going to take some time and even a decade hasn't dampened how much you loved her. I accept it."

"Thanks," Jason said, weakly, as he reached around her and pulled her closer to him. "I needed that."

"Yeah, I know, now let's get some sleep. You're going to have to go to work tomorrow, as much as we don't like that," Hayley said as Jason nodded then felt her snuggle closer to him. She knew more about the man she loved than she had ever known before and yet she knew he still had much more to release. She just wondered how much he could take and she also knew that was why Jason was not telling her everything.

AN: I know this is short, but I hope that you like it and tell me what you think about it!


	36. Eltar Begins

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, and Dr. Vestwick.

_Katie's POV_

Hayley got to come home Saturday morning, much to Jason's liking. He hated her being in that hospital more than any of the rest of us, but he still hasn't told all of us his big secret, although I think he will before we leave this next time. No body has contacted us, though. It's kinda weird; I thought that we would be leaving within a couple of days, but now it is Friday evening and we haven't heard anything from anyone all week. I don't like the waiting game at all, but from what I know this is odd.

I kinda interrogated Tommy the other night and made him spill some more facts about the ranger teams he has been on. The one thing that I noticed was that every time they went on a mission, they would find out about it and go on it the same day.

Now, I do understand that the planets have to be at the correct angle for teleportation to be possible between galaxies. That in itself is a little bit freaky to know that I will be teleported from this galaxy to another. I had always thought that we were the only life form and that there was no way to travel between galaxies, then I became a ranger. Now I know there are other life forms and there are ways to get to their planets. I just don't think it wise to tell Mr. Marks that in class. I would definitely get some odd looks for that one.

Angelina and Garret have been distant lately, I don't really know why though. I can only guess that it has to do with the fact that I was gone for a week without any real explanation. Yeah, Anthony told us that they suspect something, but they haven't asked about it, yet. I wish that they would go ahead and ask, it would surely make it easier on me. I think that they are waiting to see if there is anymore proof before they back me into a corner and as much as I know I need to lie to them, I don't know if I can.

"Hey, Kate! Come here!" Tommy yelled up the stairs as Katie placed her pen on her bed and shut her journal. She had been trying to get all her thoughts straightened out, but it seemed that every time she attempted to do that, something came up and usually that something had to do with Tommy.

"What?" Katie yelled as she walked out of her room and looked down the hall to see Tommy standing at the top of the stairs.

"What do you want for supper? We're going to order out tonight," Tommy said as Katie looked over at him. Why did he want to stay home on a Friday night? It was kinda commonplace for Kim and he to go out on Friday's now and she was used to fixing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and watching _Lifetime_.

"I don't care. I'll eat anything," Katie said as Conner peeped his head out from behind Dr. O and she stared at him in shock. "When did you get here?"

"Just a little while ago. Now what do you want? I'm sure that you don't want to let the two of us to pick it out for you," Conner said as Tommy nodded his head and Katie groaned.

"Grilled chicken salad and ranch," Katie said as Tommy nodded and then turned to go back downstairs. "Why are you really here?"

"You don't want to know," Conner said as he walked over to her and then grabbed her hand so that he could pull her downstairs.

"Yeah, I do. What's happened to make you come up here unannounced?" Katie asked as Conner let out a sigh and then nodded towards the living room, where Kira, Ethan, and Trent were sitting.

"Billy told me that I might want to go ahead and come to Reefside tonight. Well, they showed up right when I was about to leave and it's not a big deal that they're here, but…"Conner said as Katie nodded her head. They all knew that they could be called out at any moment and they didn't need for anyone to see it.

"I know," Katie said as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator before heading into the living room.

"Hey," Kira said as Katie sat down next to Conner and looked at the three other rangers. They seemed like they were bursting with some sort of news, but she was not sure she wanted to hear it.

"Hi," Katie said as she grabbed the remote off the coffee table and began searching through the channels to try to find something they would all like.

"I'll be back in a little while, Kate and Kim should be coming in, in the next few minutes. Make sure that she's in a good mood," Tommy said as Katie and Conner stared at him, as he closed the door. What was that about?

"Why does Kim need to be in a good mood?" Conner asked as Katie shrugged her shoulders and the other three stared at them. They didn't know who Kim was and they were not sure they wanted to find out.

"No clue. Why did Billy tell you to go ahead and come to Reefside?" Katie asked, pointedly, as Conner shrugged his shoulders as well. There was definitely something odd going on tonight that they had not been informed about.

"Who's Kim and who's Billy?" Kira asked as Katie and Conner looked over at her then Katie stood up to go get a picture that was in Tommy's scrapbook.

"They are two of the first rangers," Conner said as Kira, Trent, and Ethan nodded.

"So they were on the footage, somewhere," Ethan said as Conner nodded his head yes and Katie jogged back in the room with picture in tow.

"Here's a picture with them in it, mind you it's about ten years old, but it's the best I could do," Katie said as she passed it to the others and they stared at the picture.

"Why is Kim living here?" Trent asked as Katie and Conner exchanged a glance and then looked the other way. Neither of them liked the thoughts that were coming to mind, but that was not the real reason that Kim was here most of the time.

"From what Tommy has said the apartment above her gymnastics center is completely trashed and considering what has been going on lately, she hasn't been able to clean it, plus she's dating Tommy," Katie said as the other three goggled at her. They had absolutely no clue that Dr. O had broke things off with Andie. "What did I say?"

"He broke up with Andie?" Kira asked, shocked, as Katie nodded her head yes and Kira slumped back against Trent. That was not something that she had seen coming, by any means. She had thought that they were on their way to being a happy, married couple. What had happened to change that? "Why would he do that?"

"They have a hell of a curse hanging over their heads and they are trying to keep history from repeating itself," Katie said as Ethan just shook his head.

"That still doesn't explain why Dr. O would stop dating Andie. He loved her," Ethan said as Katie looked at the floor and then back up at the former rangers.

"Permission to speak freely," Katie said as the three of them nodded and Conner placed his head in his hands. Whenever she said something like that, he knew she was about to unload some sort of information on someone and usually that information was not pleasant. "Look, Tommy is no saint, but when our parents died he realized a lot of stuff that he needed to change in his life. Kim was his high school girlfriend and a fellow ranger. They broke up back in high school, but they never exactly smoothed things over. He started thinking about her again. Then Belstan shows up and blows his world to smithereens again. Not to mention the fact that Kim shows back up the same day that all that shit happened. Then we get these powers that have some of the weirdest conditions, like which colors are supposed to date. Kim and Tommy both broke up with who they were dating, but were trying to wait it out, give themselves some time to get to know each other again. Their powers basically screwed them over, so they had to start dating."

"So they don't love each other, they're just doing this to keep their power from screaming at them?" Trent asked as Katie looked over at Conner, who still had his face buried.

"You're just loads of help," Katie said as Conner looked up at her and just shook his head. He was not getting in on this when he didn't know all the information. "They do, probably more than Tommy loved Andie."

"That just doesn't seem like Dr. O, though. He wouldn't do something like that to someone he had been dating for almost a year," Kira said as Katie let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back against the couch.

"Ask them about it or just wait and see what I mean," Katie said as Kira nodded.

"Kate, whose cars are in the driveway?" Kim asked as she opened the door and kicked off her shoes.

"I don't know," Katie said, as she was not sure who had driven over here.

"It's mine and Trent's, Kim," Conner said as Kim walked into the living room and then looked at the rangers that were sitting there.

"Okay, I was just wondering. Where did Tommy go?" Kim asked as she had noticed that his jeep was missing.

"To get some supper. We're eating in tonight, for some odd reason," Katie said as Kim nodded her head and then motioned for Katie to follow her into the kitchen.

"Has he told you what's going on?" Kim asked as Katie shook her head no and Kim sighed. It seemed that Tommy had forgotten to tell Katie that Billy had contacted them yesterday and now it was her job to do so. "We are going to be leaving, tonight, at around midnight from what I was able to gather."

"Shit," Katie said as Kim nodded her head. "I bet he hasn't even bothered to talk to Principal Wingard."

"Actually, he has a better plan this time. They are going to do a voice recording of him at the Command Center and then call at about two in the morning. Principal Wingard can't tell him he can't miss a day and he'll already be off the planet before Principal Wingard finds out that he is not going to be at school," Kim said as Katie shook her head. She didn't see how this was going to work.

"How long is this going to take?" Katie asked as Kim shrugged her shoulders. The Eltarian rangers had been very vague on the details and she doubted that any of that had changed over the last few weeks.

"I don't know and I don't like knowing that we are going to a planet that is full of rangers. What could possibly be going on there that they can not handle?" Kim whispered as Katie shrugged her shoulders and then looked into the living room, where Conner and the other rangers were talking.

"Who knows. We better go try to make it look like we're not going to be disappearing tonight though," Katie said as Kim nodded and then followed her into the living room.

"So you're Kimberly," Kira said as Kim nodded her head and sat down in the recliner and pulled her feet up under her. "You were the pink ranger, right?"

"Yeah, but as you can see that changed," Kim said as she motioned down to her clothing, which was mostly black and then shrugged her shoulders. That was just the way it went with being a ranger.

"What happened to the first yellow ranger?" Kira asked as Kim looked down at the floor. She didn't like to talk about the fact that Trini had died soon after she had given up her ranger powers, but these rangers did deserve to know the truth.

"She was killed in a train accident in France, I think. She died before she got to graduate high school," Kim said as the five of them stared over at her. Sure, Katie had wondered why she had never met Trini, but she had never bothered to ask Tommy about it. It didn't seem like a question that he would answer that willingly.

"A train accident?" Kira asked, critically, as Kim nodded her head yes. She seemed to have the same idea that all of them had had back then. They all thought that they were superhuman and to a point, they were right, but no one could have survived that crash, even if they were once rangers.

"Can I get some help?" Tommy asked as he banged on the door with his foot and Trent, Ethan, and Conner all got up to help him.

"He can't have that much food," Kira said as Katie and Kim nodded in agreement.

"Unless they eat the way that Jason used to," Kim said as she could remember some days when Jason could eat a whole pizza by himself and she was sure some of these boys could do that as well.

"What have you been doing?" Tommy asked as he walked into the living room and handed Kim her food. He had expected that they would have dug out some game or movie or both by the time that he got back.

"Talking," Katie said as Tommy pursed his lips then nodded his head. He knew by the tone of her voice that they had been talking about some things that he might have to straighten out on his own.

"Okay," Tommy said as he sat down in front of the recliner.

"Anyone need something to drink?" Trent asked as he looked around the room and noticed that Katie was the only one who had something.

"Just bring a pack of the sodas from the fridge," Tommy said as Kim looked down at him.

"And bring me a water, please" Kim said as Tommy looked up at her. Why in the world was she being health conscious when she was eating fried chicken?

"Okay," Trent said as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed those items out of the fridge. On the way back, he heard the telltale sound of a communicator.

"Shit," Tommy cursed as Kira and Ethan looked over at him in surprise, while Conner and Katie just let out long sighs. "Yes?"

"Tommy, throw everyone out of your house. We're about to teleport the four of you here," Billy said as Katie and Conner both grabbed their food and a drink. They were not going to go to Eltar without eating something first.

"What's going on?" Kira asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance.

"We are about to have to go to Eltar and I hate to do this, but you do have to leave. I thought we were going to have a little longer before we had to leave," Tommy said as the three of them nodded and then turned to leave. They were not happy that they were no longer rangers, but they couldn't change anyone's mind about who got the powers.

"Good luck," Kira said as they closed the door and stopped just on the other side. "Does anyone else have the feeling that something bad is about to happen?"

"I couldn't agree with you more," Trent said as the walked over to his car and he looked at the two of them. "You want to head to Hayley's and see if she's there? Maybe she could tell us what's happening around here."

"We don't need to do that to Hayley, man. She's been through enough this last week and she doesn't need the added worry right now," Ethan said as Kira sat on the hood of Trent's car and he leaned back against her. There had to be some way that they could find out what was going on without disturbing the peace.

"We could always go to Angel Grove and track down some of the other rangers," Kira said, as Trent shook his no. That would take up too much time and they all knew that they didn't have that amount of time. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"Break into the Command Center," Trent said as Ethan and Kira looked at each other and then at him. "You know that it is the only way we can monitor this."

"Did you forget about the cave in? There is no way that we are going to get through all of that crap before they get back," Kira said as Ethan looked at the ground. He could think of a way that they could get through it, but they probably wouldn't like it.

"There is a way Kira, but I'm not sure that we can pull it off without doing some major damage," Ethan said as Kira and Trent shook their heads no. They knew that Dr. O would have a shit fit if he came back home and found his home destroyed again. "Well, I guess we will just have to watch the news and hope that they get on there."


	37. Leaving the Command Center

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, and Dr. Vestwick.

"What the hell?" Jason bellowed as he landed in the Command Center with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping with water. To say that he was a little pissed off was an understatement. He had thought that they were going to warn him before they just teleported him away from his home. That was why he went ahead and took the shower in the first place. "Couldn't you have warned me first?"

"We tried, but you didn't answer your communicator, so I had to go ahead and teleport you here," Billy said as the others landed and couldn't help but stare over at Jason, wondering what exactly had happened to him. He had never looked like this before and they honestly had not expected to see him in a towel.

"Well could it have killed you to wait five more minutes? I would have had some clothes on by then," Jason said as he looked over at the four wide-eyed rangers. "Come on, you've seen me in a towel before, it's not a big deal."

"That was years ago, Jason. Things have changed a lot since then," Kim said as she came back to herself and Katie roughly shook her head and looked away from the towel wearing Jason.

"Do I have time to go back and get some clothes or am I going to have to go to Eltar like this?" Jason asked, motioning to his nonexistent attire, as Billy looked over at Zordon and he nodded his head yes. He was certain that the Eltarians would not want to see Jason in a towel. "Thank you."

"How's Hayley doing?" Billy asked, as Jason was teleported away. "I didn't want to ask in front of Jason. He already seems to be mad enough at me."

"I think that she is all right. She's been able to get back to work this week and she's done fine, but her employees are doing a lot more. Are you bringing her here?" Tommy asked, as Billy shook his head no. He knew that Billy had the team in mind, but poor Hayley was about to have an emotional breakdown.

"Why can't you bring her here? What harm would it do to have her around?" Katie asked as Billy looked over at Zordon then back at Katie. They had been sure that someone was going to ask that exact question.

"She needs to work while she can. There will be a time when we need her here and until that time life needs to proceed normally for her. She's had too much happen to her lately," Zordon said as Jason teleported back in and let out a long sigh.

"I am so dead," Jason said as he sat down and Kim and Tommy looked over at him. He rarely said something like that, so what was wrong?

"What's going on, Jase?" Kim asked as Jason looked over at her and then covered his face. It was now or never time to tell them and he had to do it. He couldn't keep on putting the inevitable off anymore.

"You're going to kill me," Jason said as Tommy looked over at Billy and Zack, who were looking over at Jason in concern. What had happened to make his whole mood shift in a matter of minutes?

"Why would we do that?" Kim asked as Jason looked up at her and then over at Tommy. Tommy knew that it was the time that they all found out the truth, but it was going to be rough to get them to understand. "You haven't done anything to us to make us feel like we should do that, Jase."

"It's for everything that I haven't told you and what I am about to put you through," Jason said, as Kim looked over at Tommy, who did not seem to be the least bit surprised.

"What don't we know? Is there something else going on with Hayley? Don't tell me that she's having twins I don't think any of us could deal with it," Zack said as he sat down on the other side of Jason. He knew that Jason wouldn't be acting like this unless something serious was going on.

"It's nothing that is going on right now. It's more about the memories that are being brought up by everything that is going on," Jason said as Tommy looked over at them and then pulled Billy over to where they were. He needed to hear this as well.

"What memories could all of this be bringing up?" Kim asked as Katie and Conner looked at each other and then silently excused themselves from the room. They had the feeling that this had nothing to do with them and that they were just better off not knowing anything about it.

"Trini," Jason said, simply, as the others looked at him and then over at Tommy, who was staring at the ceiling, trying to feign ignorance. He did not want to let on that he already knew what Jason was about to tell them.

"What about Trini? It's been ten years, Jason. What else is there that we don't know about her?" Zack asked as Jason looked down at the floor and then stared over at Zordon, who looked as if he knew this was coming and that there was no use to try to stop him from revealing this information.

"She was four months pregnant when she died," Jason said as Zack, Billy, and Kim looked over at him and then up at Zordon, hoping that he would dismiss this declaration, but all he did was stare back at them.

"No," Zack and Kim said, adamantly, as Billy looked away from the others. He had suspected it before her death, but he had never asked Jason about it. He hadn't felt as if he had the right to ask and he was most certain that it was better for the rangers to not know that sort of information. They did not need that added pressure on their shoulders back then.

"She would have told us about it, Jason. We were her friends. Why do you believe that after all these years that she's been gone?" Kim asked as Jason and Tommy looked over at her. They knew it was going to be hard to make her a believer, but they could also see the recognition in the very back of her eyes that knew that this explained a lot of things.

"She was, Kim, it makes sense. I just don't know why I didn't see it back then. I know that I should have. I was around her more than anyone else," Zack said as Jason looked over at him with a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Zack would jump him for keeping that information secret, but it seemed that he was fine with it.

"What was going on that it would make sense? I was her best friend and she never said anything to me about it; she would have at least done that Jason," Kim said as Billy walked over to the computer and pulled up a picture of Trini that Jason had had someone take about a week before she died. He had always seen the pudge that had developed on Trini's lower abdomen, but now he had conformation of what he had always suspected it to be.

"Kim, she just told me about it. I wish she would have told all of you, but she didn't want to and I don't know why. I have lived with it for too long and now I have to come clean with everyone. I can't make myself live like this anymore," Jason said as he looked over at Kim, begging her to just accept what he was saying.

"Why tell us now? Why wait this long to bring it up?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at Jason and the two of them exchanged a glance. It seemed that that one would be fairly obvious, but they all had been sleep deprived lately.

"Hayley's pregnant and it has been haunting me ever since I found out. I have to be able to do what I need to do without anything on my conscience," Jason said as Kim looked up at Zack and Billy, who were both crying, although they were taking it fairly well.

"So, it is the truth. She really was pregnant," Kim mumbled as she started to cry and Jason put both of his arms around her and gave her a hug.

"Yes and I know that I should have told all of you earlier, but I thought that I could take it alone," Jason said as Zack and Billy nodded, as he looked up and notice the picture that Billy had pulled up. "I didn't think that you would have kept that."

"I knew there would be a time it would be needed, although I was not sure for what," Billy said as Kim looked up at the picture and noticed the distinctive pudge and how Jason's hands were carefully protecting her small belly.

"Oh, Jase. Why did you do this to yourself?" Kim asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders. He was not sure why he did this, but he was sure that it was the only way when he was younger.

"I'm not sure. I guess it was mainly because I didn't want anymore pity than what I was already receiving. I needed to be able to deal with it alone, but I can't do it anymore. I had to tell you all about it," Jason said as the Eltarian rangers walked back into the Command Center.

"Where are Katie and Conner?" Alexa asked as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that the two of them did not want to be around for the emotional declaration that Jason was having, so it was just easier for them to excuse themselves.

"They're here, they just left the room for a little while," Tommy said as he opened the door into the hallway. "Katie! Conner! You can come back now!"

"It's over?" Katie asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she walked back into the main room, with Conner only a few steps behind her.

"All of you need to prepare yourself for teleportation," Zordon said as the ten rangers looked at each other, before the Eltarian rangers grasped each other's hands. Jason, Kim, and Tommy then exchanged a glance. They had never seen a group of rangers do that before they were going to teleport.

"What are you doing?" Katie asked as the five of them looked at the other rangers and noticed that they were not prepared.

"Only Daniel and Win have the power of teleportation. The rest of us have to be linked in order to teleport," Anthony said as they nodded their heads and then looked over at Billy and Zordon.

"Three, two, one," Billy counted as he pressed the teleportation button and the rangers disappeared in streaks of glistening light. "Zordon, I hope that you are right. I would hate to have to explain to the other former rangers why they never came back."

"They will return Billy, it may just take some time," Zordon said as Billy and Zack exchanged a glance before they went to pack up for the night. There was nothing that they could do for them now. They just had to wait and hope and pray that the rangers would return safely.


	38. Another Prophecy

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, and Dr. Vestwick.

"Oh…" Katie said as she stared around the startlingly new planet. This certainly was not what she imagined seeing.

"My…" Tommy said.

"What the hell happened here?" Anthony blurted out as he looked around the center, seeing everything was utterly destroyed. He then looked down through the floor, which was surprisingly clear. He could not see any rangers below him, so where were they and how could they allow this to happen?

"Tony, I'm sure that they'll explain it when they get back. It's probably something that they couldn't prevent, you know that. Things aren't exactly good right now," Keema said as Anthony scanned the faces of the other rangers and noticed that Katie held the same expression as his. Damn it. He didn't expect his own prophecy to come true this time around.

"I don't think that they're coming back," Win said as he looked around the center, while Alexa and Keema glared over at him. They didn't want to say that because they were afraid it might just push Anthony over the edge.

"Neither do I, they weren't very interested in staying when they heard we were leaving. Katie, come with me. The rest of you stay here, we'll be back soon enough," Anthony said as Katie walked off after him and the other rangers exchanged glances. Why had Anthony chosen Katie, the least experienced ranger, to go with him?

"Why her? Why not one of us instead?" Tommy asked as the Dycon rangers exchanged a glance. They all knew exactly why Katie was chosen by Anthony to go with him, but no one wanted to admit that to them. They were not sure how well it would go over with the other rangers.

"It's a long story and I'm sure that you have heard enough of those lately. I don't think us telling you another one will solve anything," Keema said as they all nodded. They could not argue that point.

"I think that we need to know what it is, so we can know how to handle this situation. If you're worried about it, we need to be worried about it," Tommy said, protectively, as Keema looked down at the ground. They were going to kill her when they heard this story.

"There was a prophecy made here, years ago and no one thought very much of it for a very long time. It seemed that it was never going to come true," Keema said as she started looking around the center for the actual prophecy, which Anthony had received upon his eighteenth birthday, as was the custom here.

"That was until the day that Anthony was born. The first set of conditions that the prophecy states were met that day and things haven't been the same since then," Alexa said the other rangers continued to look confused.

"A ranger couple had given birth to a male child with purple eyes. Even here purple eyes are generally unheard of, except for Anthony. He fit into a prophecy that everyone tried to ignore," Win said as Tommy, having heard many of these prophecies, could dimly see where this might be going, but he still kept quiet.

"But that only met the first condition of the prophecy. Anthony's parents kept it a secret from him for years. They didn't want him to have all of that to deal with. It was enough that his parents are two of the greatest rangers that have ever lived. He didn't need anything else on his shoulders," Keema said, as she couldn't find the written prophecy, which made her think Anthony had taken it with him.

"Then he was asked to come to the ranger academy here. The instructors search for the children of the planet that have the most potential to become rangers. He was the first child of a ranger couple that was ever accepted into the academy," Daniel said as Kim and Jason exchanged a glance. They were starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel, but they still didn't see where they came into the picture. This prophecy seemed to only deal with Anthony and maybe Katie; they couldn't be sure about that yet though.

"But still the prophecy was not completed. He had to be chosen for a ranger team," Win said as he looked over at Keema, who had sighed. This was the part that none of them wanted to tell the rangers of Earth.

"It was mostly complete when he became the blue ranger, in his first station on a ranger team," Keema said as she turned to face the others. "Now it has been completely fulfilled. The son of Power Rangers, whose eye color is purple and first ranger color is blue, travels to a foreign planet to help save his own from sure destruction. Meanwhile he finds love and marries, leaving Eltar forever."

"So it's Katie," Tommy said, skeptically as Keema nodded her head yes and Conner sat down on the nearest bench. He had had the hunch that things were not right and now he knew that they weren't right.

"So why didn't he just start going at her back on Earth?" Conner asked, angrily, as Keema looked over at him. She could sympathize with what he was feeling, but that would not do them any good. "He had to know when he first saw her what all of this meant."

"He was in a relationship and no matter what the damn prophecy says, he was going to have the decency to not do anything while he was in a relationship of his own. I broke up with him about a week ago. There was no denying what we all saw going on," Keema said as they looked over at her.

"So what's he doing now?" Tommy asked as the Dycon rangers exchanged a glance, they were sure that the other rangers were not going to like to hear this.

"Why can't he just ignore the prophecy?" Conner asked as Tommy looked over at him and gave him a sympathetic look. They all wished that they could ignore the prophecies made for them sometimes, but this was not one of those times.

"He has to believe it, Katie is the only one that can truly help us and he knows that. He knows why this has to be done," Daniel said as the other four rangers stared at them, in shock, before Tommy let out a frustrated groan. He had never wanted for Katie to be put in the middle of something like this. He had never wanted for his family to be placed where they were going to get hurt.

"So why are we here?" Kim asked as the Eltarian rangers tried to think of a way out of saying the full truth.

"You're here to help them fall in love," Win said as they stared at them and then looked at each other. These rangers must be pulling their leg and they would just reveal the joke in a matter of seconds.

(! #$&&$#!)

"What do you need me for?" Katie asked as she walked beside Anthony and he gave a furtive glance at the wall, hoping that it would give him some answers.

"You're the only one that can really help us," Anthony said as he took in a deep breath, as he was mentally smacking himself for doing this to the rangers that had taken them in and cared for his own rangers. He had thought that he would be able to fight the prophecy made for him, but it was very obvious to him now that there was absolutely no way that would happen. Even he had feelings, if he was only smart enough to recognize that was what it was.

"Sure. It makes perfect sense that a ranger that has absolutely no experience is the only one that can save you from utter destruction. What else is going on here?" Katie asked as they walked out of the center and into the open air. "Oh my goodness."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you would say," Anthony said as he watched her look around at the scenery, which was quite different from that of Earth. It also bought him a little bit more time to try to think of what he should say. "I need to tell you something."

"What?" Katie asked as she looked over at him and then continued to take in the scenery around her. She had never seen a place like this in her entire life.

"There is a prophecy about me," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him, wondering where she came into this prophecy. She knew that he wouldn't be wasting his breath if she didn't come in somewhere.

"Why does that matter? I have a hell of a prophecy hanging over my head as well right now and I'm not talking about it," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head then grabbed her hand and pulled her down a different path.

"It's not the same type of prophecy, Katie. I wish it was and I wish that it would not cause a lot of destruction, but that seems like the only thing that it will possibly do," Anthony said, sounding ashamed, as Katie looked over at him and sighed.

"But why do I need to know about it, Andy?" Katie asked, as Anthony looked over at her, surprised that she would not call him by his full name or Tony, like most people did.

"It concerns you as well," Anthony said as Katie stared over at him and then nodded her head that he could go on. "It really comes down to the fact that I am supposed to fall in love with someone from a foreign planet and marry them. The person I marry will be able to bring peace to Eltar."

"And how do I fit into this?" Katie asked as Anthony gave her a long look. She was no where near that stupid, but she sure seemed to want to play that card at the moment.

"I'm sure that you can imagine a way that you fit into it Kate, if you think about it long enough," Anthony said as Katie's shoulders slumped and she looked over at him. He had to be kidding her.

"But why now? We're both in relationships," Katie said as Anthony shrugged his shoulders. He thought it was cruel as well, but what could they do? They couldn't fight this, as he had already tried and as much as he wanted to dismiss it, he knew that Katie had been doing the same thing.

"I'm not and I'm not going to ask you to break things off just because of a stupid prophecy," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him. What had been the point of him talking to her if he didn't want her to do that?

"Andy, why else would you talk to me about it?" Katie asked as they walked up to a house and she looked over at him, utterly confused.

"My parents still live on this planet and they know the full extent of the prophecy. Now we have to find out what has to be done to save this planet. If you're up to it," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him and then nodded her head that she would be fine with this, although it seemed to be the most insane thing that she had ever done.

"Is this your parents house?" Katie asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and Katie gulped. She hadn't thought that she would be meeting them within seconds of finding out that they even existed.

"They're not that bad and we don't have much of a choice about this. We have to find out what it is going to take to save this planet," Anthony said as Katie nodded her head and then looked at the house again, filled with fear. "Hey, they know that I didn't plan on coming back with someone who could help and someone I actually like. Don't worry, okay?"

(! #$&&$#!)

"I want some questions answered," Conner said as the other rangers looked over at him. He had the right to be angry with Anthony and pissed at the rest of them for not giving him a warning, but they had all thought that it would not be the rangers of Earth. Even Anthony had gone as far as to say that there was no need for them to really look for anything there.

"We'll answer what we can, but even we don't know everything," Keema said as Conner just shook his head and then looked at his fellow rangers. Kim and Tommy were deep in conversation and Jason was watching Conner, knowing he might snap or even worse.

"Why is it that our powers have a prophecy and now this happens and this prophecy is more powerful than the first?" Conner asked as Keema looked at the ground.

"We also received the powers of the Tinneanites, actually it was just me and Anthony. The rest of this team are new to this. I was the pink ranger and he was the blue ranger. We took it to mean that we literally had to look out for each other, just as you have taken it, but we both knew about the other prophecy. It seems that that is the pairing of pink and blue that the prophecy was talking about, not the two of us," Keema said, sadly as Conner nodded his head.

"Should I just go ahead and break up with her, just to make it easier on the two of them?" Conner asked as Tommy looked over at him. He had never seen Conner give up on something he wanted this easily.

"Conner, why are you so resolved that this is the only way?" Tommy asked as Conner looked over at him. "You've never given up on something before."

"Dr. O, I'd be lying to you if I was to say that I love Katie with all my heart. She's a great friend and it could have become something more, but who wants a planet to be destroyed because they aren't willing to give up something," Conner said as all of the other rangers looked at him, completely confused as to what had inhabited Conner's body. They had expected him to fight to the death over this. "And I met this girl back home."

"Name," Tommy said, simply, as Conner looked over at him. He was not sure he wanted to discuss this with Katie's brother, but Tommy didn't seem upset. "Come on Conner. You might as well tell us all who she is that you like. You sure as hell are going to have to tell Kate, you know that."

"Kasi. She's in Katie's grade," Conner said as Tommy let out a long sigh and then smiled. He knew that Kasi had liked Conner since last year and at least he was not chasing someone that would never feel the same.

"Thank God you are not pissed about this, otherwise this team would be falling apart," Tommy said as the others laughed.

"So you are truly fine with everything that has happened?" Daniel asked as Conner nodded his head yes and then smiled up at them.

"I respect Katie enough to know that she is going to do what's right by me and I know that there is nothing you can do to stop a prophecy. Some of us have already tried that," Conner said, as he looked over at Dr. O and Kim and the both of them looked at the floor.

"Hey we had just seen each other for the first time in a decade, I think we had the right to be a little bit apprehensive about jumping back into a relationship," Kim said as Jason and Conner laughed. The two of them should have known that there was no way they would stay away from each other forever, it just seemed that it did not sink in well.

"I just hope all of this goes well," Keema said as Win gave her a hug and she nestled closer to him.

"So do I, but you know that if Anthony is working on it, we'll be all right. He's never failed this planet before," Win said as Keema nodded her head and then looked around the empty building. She hated to have to admit that they were the only rangers left that could save this planet and that they would be losing Anthony soon after this mission was completed.

AN: Tell me what you think! I'd love to get some feedback on the newest twist!


	39. The Parents Advice

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, and Phillip.

"Mom! Dad!" Anthony yelled as he walked inside and looked around the house while Katie's mouth fell open, yet again. She had never seen a house like this before. Every surface seemed to be made of glass, although it was not clear, it all seemed foggy, yet there were distorted images behind each pane. She looked around and she couldn't help but wonder where his parents were, she thought she would be able to see them around here. "Come on! I don't have the time to play find the ranger parent."

"There's no need to yell, maybe they're out for a little while," Katie suggested as Anthony shook his head no. They were here, somewhere.

"I don't think so. Dycon red, power up," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him, wondering why it was necessary for him to morph. Nothing was going on here that would require him to do that and weren't they supposed to keep this a secret from their parents, anyway?

"How is that going to help you?" Katie asked as he walked over to the side of the room and grabbed his parents, which appeared out of thin air. "How'd you do that?"

"Andy, you can let go of us now. We're not going to turn invisible again, but it would have been nice if you had given us a warning that you were coming. We were afraid we were about to get a visit from the government officials again," Leza said as Anthony powered down and released his parents.

"What are you doing here? I thought that you were on Earth helping their rangers," Phillip said as Anthony nodded while Leza looked over at Katie, who still looked utterly confused as to what was happening around here. She seemed to have an idea about the prophecy, but not exactly what that would entail for her.

"We did help them. Now they are here to help us out," Anthony said as Katie walked over to one of the walls and reached out to touch it.

"You don't want to do that," Leza said grabbing Katie's outstretched hand and pulling her over to where Anthony and Phillip were standing. "What's your name?"

"Katie Oliver," Katie said, shakily, as Anthony offered her a smile and she then looked down at the floor. She had no clue how she had managed to get herself into this mess.

"It's all right to be scared, a lot is being asked of you," Phillip said as Katie tried to pull away from Leza and Anthony caught her and held her still in front of him. They both needed to hear what his parents had to say.

"I just don't know if I'm the one that all of this is talking about. It could be anyone from a foreign planet," Katie said as Phillip and Leza looked at her and Anthony. They were certain that she was the one this prophecy was talking about, but the both of them had to be ready for anything that might be asked of them and they were not ready right now.

"You don't have to do anything for awhile. We have some time before any action has to be taken," Leza said as Katie nodded her head and sunk deeper into Anthony's arms. She knew that she shouldn't feel this comfortable around him, but she did and she didn't know why.

"How much is some?" Anthony asked as Leza and Phillip exchanged a glance. He had seen that look before and he had never liked it. "I guess that it's not that much."

"You do have some time, but there is a lot to be done and until you are both on board with everything that might have to be done, there is nothing we can do to help you," Leza said as Anthony nodded his head and Katie just looked up at him, expecting to see some sort of emotion coming out of him, but he seemed to expect it.

"Whenever the two of you are ready, come back. We'll explain everything that must be done then," Phillip said as Katie looked at him in shock and then back up at Anthony.

"All right," Anthony said steering Katie out of the house as she continued to try to look back at his parents.

"Why didn't they give us any answers? I thought that was why we came here," Katie said as Anthony released her and then directed her back down the lane.

"They did give us some answers. Obviously whatever it is, is going to make a great deal of change in our lives. They are giving us time to decide if we want to do whatever it is they ask. It's our chance to back out of everything without any consequences," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him, before she tripped on a stump. "Gotcha."

"Thanks," Katie said as he helped her to stand up and she did not let go of his hand, as she was afraid that she might very well take another tumble and she knew that all of them needed to be as healthy as possible. "I just don't know about all of this Andy. We only met a few weeks ago and this could be something that will last the rest of our lives."

"I know," Anthony said, as he pulled her over to a bench and she settle down next to him. "And it makes me feel just as uncomfortable, but there is nothing that we can do to change the prophecy, no matter how much we try. Believe me, I know, I've been trying to fight it the last few weeks."

"Do the others know about the prophecy?" Katie asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and Katie let out a long sigh. She was sure that the other rangers knew everything by now.

"Yeah and I can imagine your brother asking about why I took you with me, instead of one of them," Anthony said as Katie covered her face and let out a frustrated sigh. She knew that was exactly what her brother did the second they were out of earshot.

"So, what do you think we're going to have to do?" Katie asked as Anthony shrugged his shoulders. He was absolutely clueless as to what they were going to ask them to do in the near future.

"I wish I knew, Kate and knowing my parents it could be anything," Anthony said as they heard a crash and Anthony then peaked out to see a gogmor pass by which caused Katie to shriek. Every other time she had seen a being similar to that she had been attacked moments later and she didn't like that feeling right now.

"What was that?" Katie asked as Anthony sat back and heaved a sigh of relief. The gogmors were on their side.

"A gogmor. They exist in peace with the Eltarians, it's the anondrones you have to look out for," Anthony said as Katie gave him a confused stare. She had never heard of either being before and she highly doubted that the rangers had either. "I'm sure that you'll see what I mean soon enough. They're bound to figure out that we're back."

"What is Keema gong to think about all of this?" Katie asked as Anthony shrugged. He hadn't really thought about it and although they had spent the last two years together the only thing he truly felt for her was an undying friendship. "You've been dating her for awhile and then this just happens and you break up."

"I'm not as worried about her as I am Conner. She has known about the prophecy since the beginning; Conner had this sprung on him," Anthony said as Katie sighed, then looked up at the dark sky, thinking that it had been daylight a few moments before.

"Why is it so dark?" Katie asked as Anthony looked up and his eyes widened in terror.

"We have to go. We should have left before it got this bad," Anthony said as he leapt up from the bench, grabbed her hand, and began pulling her towards the center.

"What's going on?" Katie asked as she sprinted to keep up with him. In the short amount of time that she had known him, he had never done something like this before.

"They know we're back. Go ahead and morph. I don't want for them to come after you while you're unprotected," Anthony said as Katie quickly did as she was told, while they pelted along the path.

"Who's they?" Katie asked as Anthony looked over at her and then up at the black sky, which seemed to be moving closer by the second.

"The anondrones. They have been trying to take over our world for years, but the Power Ranger level is at an all time low and they suddenly have an edge," Anthony said as Katie nodded her head and he tugged her along a little bit more. He did not want for them to be outside when these things landed.

"We made it," Katie said as they entered the building and Anthony then turned around and bolted the door shut.

"Lucky us," Anthony said as Katie powered down, then turned to see the other rangers standing at the end of the room.

"Glad you got back before the attack. We were worried that Anthony wouldn't recognize it," Alexa said as Katie looked down at the floor and Anthony looked over at Tommy, who seemed a little bit perturbed.

"What are you going to have to do?" Keema asked as Anthony and Katie exchanged a glance. They didn't have a clue, but they weren't sure that the others would accept that.

"We don't know yet," Anthony said as Tommy only nodded his head. He knew that they would explain it all if they knew it all. "They're giving us some time to decide if we want to."

"What's there to decide about?" Conner asked, defensively, as Katie looked up at him and then over at Tommy who was shaking his head. He knew that if his parents were giving them time, then this was going to be something that he did not want to hear about.

"If we're willing to do whatever they ask, no matter what it might be and what it might do to us," Katie said as Conner nodded over at her and then over at Anthony as well.

"And what might that be, exactly?" Tommy asked as Anthony shrugged his shoulders. He knew that Tommy had been around the ranger world long enough to know the risks of what they were about to try to do.

"It could be anything. There's no telling with my parents," Anthony said as Tommy sat down and let out a long sigh.

"You need to do whatever is necessary. I'll support you no matter what," Tommy said, gravely, as Anthony and Katie exchanged a glance. Why did he sound so depressed?

"Tommy, it could be anything," Katie said as she stared over at him and then over at Conner. They both seemed to be in the same mind about it all, whatever it was just had to be done. "Conner, you're fine with this?"

"Yeah, I understand it all. Katie, it's not about what I want to happen. It is about what has to be done," Conner said as Katie let out a sigh and then raced over to give him a hug.

"You promise?" Katie asked as she looked up at him and he nodded. He knew that sacrifices had to be made in this business and he didn't want to fight a fight that he would lose.

"There is nothing that I can do to stop you and what a hell of a prophecy to screw up," Conner said as Katie laughed.

"You don't want to go out there the anondrones are attacking. I thought that you knew that already," Anthony said as Keema went to reach for the handle.

"Why aren't you fighting them?" Jason asked as the Dycon rangers looked at each other and then outside, where the anondrones were now walking the streets.

"We have to choose when it is most convenient to fight against them. The people of this planet expect us to not fight. They do not was anymore trouble until we can end this conflict," Daniel said as the others nodded.

"Why aren't the two of you sure?" Alexa asked, rather suddenly, as Katie and Anthony looked at each other then back over at Alexa.

"It's just going to take some time. We have to get used to the idea of agreeing to absolutely anything," Anthony said as Tommy nodded his head, while the others looked around.

"Well, why don't the two of you take some time together. You are going to have to get to know each other better," Tommy suggested as the other rangers nodded their agreement.

"I don't think that we need that," Katie said as Tommy and Kim pushed them out of the room and the two of them just looked at each other. "I guess what we think doesn't matter."

(!#$&&$#!)

"What do you think its going to be?" Kim asked as Tommy closed the door and then sat down on the floor.

"I have the feeling it is going to be something that none of us want to have happen so soon, but we're not going to have a real choice about it," Tommy said as the others merely nodded. He seemed to have the most insight into what could be going on, but none of them wanted to believe what he was saying.

"Why don't we have a choice?" Keema asked as Tommy looked down at the floor, to buy himself a few more seconds to formulate an answer.

"Because the two of them are going to agree to do anything. It's only a matter of time before they do that, you know that. We just have to hope that whatever they are asked to do is not too much for them," Tommy said as Keema sighed.

"I just don't think it's fair that they are being asked to do this," Keema said as the others nodded their heads.

"But life is never fair and although none of us want to see this happen, it's going to happen," Tommy said as Keema nodded her head and then looked back outside.

"I would love to see this planet have peace again and if that means giving up the best ranger I have ever known, it has to be done. These people deserve it," Keema said as she walked over to the window and stared out. Their planet had been in turmoil for far too long and they were all depending on this prophecy to work out. None of them could be too selfish and none of them could bring themselves to admit that when Anthony was gone, they were going to no longer be the same.


	40. Decisions, Decisions

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, and Phillip.

"I can't believe that they let him throw us out," Anthony said, in shock, as Katie just sat down next to the wall and watched him stare up at the door, thinking it would open and Tommy would say he was just joking.

Katie knew it was absolutely useless to wish something like that from her brother. He was serious about them needing to talk and she agreed with it. There was no telling what they might be faced with in the upcoming weeks and although it was against her better judgement, she knew that doing whatever she had to with Anthony was the right thing to do.

"I can, Tommy is persuasive and he knows that it is very likely that whatever we're asked will change us forever. We need to know each other well enough to deal with whatever comes our way," Katie said, as she motioned for Anthony to sit down next to her. They might as well be comfortable while they were being banned from the innermost room. She knew Tommy well enough to figure that he would not let them back in until they had come to the conclusion that they were going to do this.

"So, your life before you became a ranger…what was it like?" Anthony asked, as Katie sighed. There were things that she didn't want to reveal to him yet, but for the sake of all involved, she knew that she had to tell him everything. Even about the life that she had lived before she came to the Oliver's.

"I was put in foster care at the age of nine. My parents had been killed in a drug deal gone bad and my grandparents had died when I was about six, so I had no where else to go but to the system. I don't really remember much that about my grandparents, my parents kept me away from them as much as they could because they didn't agree with their lifestyle. I went to live with the Oliver's when I was thirteen. It was the sixth house that I had been placed in, in the last four years; most of them didn't want a junkie's child, they thought that I would have the habit as well. It didn't matter to the Oliver's that I had had junkies as parents. They loved me in spite of my background and in spite of everything that I might do. They showed me what it was like to be loved unconditionally. Then, this past summer, they died in a car accident after they had formally adopted me. So what about your life?" Katie asked, as she wiped her eyes and Anthony looked over at her. He couldn't make himself move onto his simple life just yet. He had to absorb everything that she had just said.

It was hard for him to believe that the woman sitting next to him had been through everything that she had stated and was still happy with life. He knew of some that had had their parents die, but none of them had been able to take it this well and he was not sure that he could understand it at all. He had never had something that drastic happen to him in his entire life.

"How are you doing?" Anthony asked, as Katie looked over at him and bit down hard on her lower lip to try to keep from crying. She hated having to talk about it, but she had to let him in, even if it was hard to do. She knew that she was going to, in all likelihood, spend the rest of her life with him.

"I have my good days and my bad days, but it was not the first time I had ever lost my parents. It was worse the first time with the adjustment, but the grief was worse this time. I felt much more attached to the Oliver's, my parents weren't around much when I was young. Tommy is much worse than I am, but he can trust, I can't. I've had it broken too many times, by too many people," Katie said as Anthony gently slipped his arm around her shoulders and she fell into his embrace. "I still wish that they were here."

"I can imagine," Anthony said as Katie leaned more heavily on him and he simply closed his eyes and tried to take some of the grief away from her. He had that power and right now, he was overwhelmed with what he felt going through her. He had never felt this from someone before and he was not sure how to take it in without being overwhelmed himself.

"I was in the car too and I had a few small injuries. The man who hit us was able to walk away from the accident, he didn't have a scratch on him," Katie said as Anthony looked down at her and she just snuggled closer to him. She hadn't felt any true comfort in a long time and although she had shared all of this with Conner, it was just not the same. Anthony felt so much different; it was like he understood. "He's in jail for vehicular manslaughter."

"So you actually fit the Tinneanite prophecy?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head yes. He knew that he couldn't take much more outpouring right now and he was sure that Katie was very close to her breaking point as well. "Does Conner?"

"To a point, but he didn't have a ruthlessness instilled in him by his family. His family doesn't even know very much about rangers from what I have been able to gather. Now about your life," Katie said as he looked at the floor. His life seemed like a fairy tale compared to hers and he was not sure that sharing it would make her feel like he was opening up to her at all. "It can't be any worse than mine."

"It's been ordinary, other than the prophecy, which I didn't know about for years. My parents wanted me to be able to have a normal childhood, so they kept it a secret from me until I was about sixteen. They revealed all of it to me when I turned eighteen a couple a of months ago. Then I came to the Power Ranger academy to study everything I needed to know to become a ranger of this planet. After that, I was chosen for a ranger team. I've been around rangers all my life; it's all I know. It made sense for me to become a ranger," Anthony said as Katie nodded. She had figured out that much about him already.

"So when are we going back to your parents?" Katie asked as Anthony stared over at her in shock. He had thought that it was going to take a great deal longer to get her convinced. Like she had said, they had only met a few weeks before and the magnitude of what was being asked was almost too much to bear.

"You mean you are willing to do this?" Anthony asked, as Katie nodded her head yes. She had never doubted that she would do this. She just needed some time to feel things out and make sure that she could do it. She felt that she could now. She was comfortable enough with him to know that she could deal with whatever happened in the next few days.

"It was never a question of if, it was when. Andy, the faster we do what is asked, the faster this planet will be safe again and that's why I'm here," Katie said as Anthony nodded and the door they were sitting against slid open, causing them to topple backwards.

"Glad you came to your senses," Tommy said as they stared at him before Anthony sat up and then pulled Katie up, as she had slipped under his arm.

"That's just cruel," Katie said as Tommy shrugged then helped the both of them stand.

"Hey, we're asking for a miracle in a matter of minutes. Why not be relieved?" Keema asked as Katie gulped. She had thought that Keema and Conner would be solidly against anything they did, but they just seemed to be able to deal with it.

"So this is a miracle?" Katie asked as they all nodded their heads. They knew that for the both of them it was unnatural to move from one person to the next so quickly.

"The anondrones are still attacking, so you are going to have to wait to return to your parents," Alexa said as Anthony nodded and Katie went to sit down next to Kim, who was gazing off into space.

"What's wrong with you?" Katie asked as Kim looked over at her. She didn't want to talk about how she was feeling right now. She didn't want to be the one to depress their mood. They all needed to be in good spirits when they went to fight the anondrones.

"You'll do anything they ask you to do?" Kim asked as Katie nodded her head yes and Kim looked up at Tommy. She knew that she would do anything for Tommy now, but at first it was different, of course she did have to look over the fact that he had been evil. If it hadn't been for that, then she would have been that way from the beginning. "Katie, don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't just meet Tommy and dive headfirst into saving everything that he had ever known."

"But you would have if you were asked to, Kim," Jason said as Kim looked over at him and gave him a glare. She was trying to make a point here and Jason was not helping her any. "It's the truth Kim, don't lie to yourself and everyone else here."

"I understand what you're saying, but I have to make the choice, even if none of you like the choice I make," Katie said as Anthony sat down next to her and she leaned over against his shoulder. "I don't know how you can wait around and just let these things destroy everything here."

"It would be worse if we fought everyday," Anthony said as he looked down at her and smiled. She looked like she was about to go to sleep and he could tell that it was best to let her do that. There was going to be a time when they couldn't rest.

"I'm going to take a walk," Conner said as Tommy nodded his head and Keema stood up to go with him. She needed her alone time as well.

"You need time too," Keema said as Conner nodded his head and looked outside to see the anondrones still prowling the streets and he found it so odd that they were not doing much of anything. Every time that the tryadrones had attacked, they had been called out to do battle and here they just watched the anondrones roam the street. It was going against his ranger religion to be sitting back right.

"You think that they'll be happy?" Conner asked as Keema shrugged her shoulders. She knew that they were comfortable together, but whether they would be happy was something that was yet to be seen. She knew that Anthony believed they would be, but she thought that the belief might be unfounded.

"I'd like to think that they'll be happy. The prophecy surely makes it seem that they will and everything it has said has come true to this point," Keema said as Conner nodded, but he had now learned not to put much faith in prophecies. Look at the prophecy he was involved in that had just been destroyed.

"Yeah, the Tinnean prophecy made it seem we'd die without each other," Conner said, begrudgingly, as Keema looked over at him. How did he know about that prophecy? She was under the impression that the only ones that knew of the prophecy had received the powers.

"You have the Tinnean powers?" Keema asked as Conner nodded his head and then looked over at her. Why was that such a shock to her? Surely, they had mentioned that sometime over the last few weeks.

"Yeah, I thought we mentioned that earlier," Conner said as Keema shook her head no and then looked over at him. She now knew why the prophecy was not working. They had had the same problems while they held the Tinnean rangers' powers.

"You don't fit the blue Power Ranger, do you?" Keema asked as Conner thought about it then shook his head no. He had been trying to make himself fit and that didn't turn out too well for him. "I didn't fit the pink Power Ranger, either."

"You had these powers, too? How old are you?" Conner asked, now thinking that those on Eltar must have a life span that was hundreds of years long.

"I'm only eighteen. Anthony and I got them when we were sixteen and we had them for about a year. We had to give them away after that," Keema said as Conner heaved a sigh of relief.

"I was worried you were a lot older," Conner said as Keema laughed.

"Conner, we have roughly the same life span as humans from earth. We just have some slight differences," Keema said as Conner looked over at her wondering if she was willing to elaborate.

"What differences?" Conner asked, as Keema looked at the floor. She knew he couldn't see any differences, but they were there.

"Our feet are webbed, it's an adaptation that helps us move around. There are levels in this world and in order to get to the next, you must swim," Keema said as Conner looked at her in amazement. "Also, we have no belly buttons."

"Just those little things?" Conner asked as Keema nodded.

"I'm sure that there are some others, but I don't want to go there," Keema said as Conner nodded and looked through the glass again.

"So, Katie's in good hands?" Conner asked as Keema nodded her head and then looked up at him.

"Anthony won't do her wrong and trust me, he's hating himself for breaking the two of you up. He wanted to fight what he felt, but he couldn't manage it and I don't think that Katie would have lasted much longer either," Keema said as Conner nodded his head and then felt Keema give him a hug. "You'll be fine."

"I know, I just never thought that this is something that being a Power Ranger would cause. I always thought that it would be time or distance that broke us apart, not another ranger," Conner said as Keema let go of him and nodded. She had thought something very similar, until she had gone on this mission.

"I thought it would be death," Keema said as Conner looked over at her rather shocked. Why would she be so serious about someone else at such a young age? "We marry very young here. It's traditional to be married by your eighteenth birthday, but as rangers you are allowed an extension of sorts. As soon as I am done being a ranger, however, I will be expected to get married."

"Please don't tell me that you think that is what they are going to ask them to do," Conner said as Keema grimaced, then nodded her head yes. She couldn't find it within herself to lie to him now. He deserved to know as much of the truth as they could manage to give him.

"I'm actually sure that it what they are going to ask. Otherwise, they wouldn't be giving them all the time they need to think about their willingness. They only do that if it is a lifetime commitment that is at stake," Keema said as Conner covered his eyes.

"Marriage?" Conner asked, trying to grasp the concept, as Keema nodded her head again. She knew that they were all going to take it hard, but she had not expected it to be anything like this.

"That's the part Anthony never understood about the prophecy. His parents explained it to the rest of us when we became Power Rangers with him. We still don't understand all of it, but all of this is supposed to help us defeat the anondrones and he's willing to do anything to see some peace here," Keema said as Conner just nodded. He knew someone that would do that for Earth and he could understand the dilemma that Anthony had been put in.

"Dr. O is going to freak when he hears that. I'm sure that is not what he thought would be happening," Conner said as Keema nodded. She had to agree that Tommy was going to go absolutely crazy when he heard it, but he would deal with it like the rest of them.

"Yeah, I think that's the nicest way to put it," Keema said as they returned to the closed door. "You need another lap now that you know that?"

"I think I'll be all right," Conner said as they looked at the door, knowing that the time of peace was truly short.

AN: Okay, I just need to put this note here for my own sanity, but I don't think that I have explained in this story how Katie's real parents died, if I have, I'm sorry I don't remember, but I hope it fits and that you have enjoyed this chapter. Toodles! potterfan36041


	41. Revealing the Truth

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

_Leza's POV_

Today, my son came to me with the woman that makes the prophecy complete. I had always thought that we would have more than eighteen years with Anthony, because of the prophecy that was made. Surely, he wouldn't marry at eighteen someone from a foreign planet, but it seems that is what is going to happen very soon.

The prophecy is extremely confusing to most that read it. They don't see how the relationship is going to help the rangers defeat the anondrones, however we know how it is going to help them. It was explained to us soon after Anthony was born and we've held it secret for years.

Deep within Eltar there is a region known as Alegia, literally meaning the power beyond. No, there have not been any expeditions to this part of the world, but that is exactly what is being asked out of Anthony and Katie once they are married. They are the two souls that can capture the power beyond and use it to defeat the creatures that are oppressing us.

However, the other rangers being here is an interesting twist to the prophecy. I do not think that anyone ever foresaw another group of Power Rangers coming with the girl. The way that is has always been interpreted is that Anthony and the female will have to go alone, but with the rangers being here, I doubt that. They will want to help them as much as possible. The only leg of the expedition that they will have to make without any assistance is the final one and they should be able to do that easily. They are the pair that has unimaginable power.

That brings another aspect to the table. We told them to be ready for anything we might ask them to do and I am sure that Anthony is preparing himself for marriage; he knows the customs of this planet and he knows how likely it is that that will be asked of them.

Katie, however, does not and I am afraid that she will suddenly change her mind about it all and back out of the entire deal. It is not a fair way to get married and it is certainly not fair to thrust this upon an unsuspecting teenager from a foreign planet. I can only hope that the two of them are truly ready for everything we are going to demand of them.

(!#$&&$#!)

"The anondrones have disappeared," Alexa said as she looked up from the scanner and over at the rangers, who looked rather relieved. The anondrones would usually just pop in and see if they were going to challenge them and then leave, but today they spent extra time roaming the land. They seemed to know something that the rangers did not.

"That's good," Tommy said as he looked over at Anthony and Katie, who were both soundly sleeping. They looked much more peaceful than he had seen either of them in their waking hours over the last few days and he didn't want to wake them up. Only God knew what was going to be asked of them in the next few hours. "I don't want to wake them."

"I don't think that we should wake them," Win said as they all nodded their heads in agreement. Everything that had to be done had to be done on their own terms and none of them wanted to piss off their fellow rangers by waking them up too soon, not today at least.

"We need to tell them exactly what we know about the prophecy. It's only fair," Keema said as the Dycon rangers looked at her and she gave them a knowing glare. These rangers did not know their customs and were about to undergo something that they had never thought possible.

"I thought that you had told us everything," Tommy said as he gave Keema a penetrating gaze. He did not like to think that they had lied to them about something of this importance.

"We told you everything that has concrete evidence and has been proven by the prophecy. We didn't tell you the true interpretation of the prophecy, which is really just rumored right now," Keema said as she nodded for them to follow her out into the hall, where they could speak without worrying about Katie and Anthony hearing them. Neither of them needed to hear a rumor unless it came from Anthony's parents.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked as they sat down and Keema looked over at them while the Dycon rangers took in deep breaths. They were sure that their fellow rangers were not going to like what had to be said.

"They are probably going to tell them that they are required to be married by the prophecy," Keema said, as Tommy stared over at her and then placed his hands over his face. He could not believe that this was happening.

"She's sixteen; they can't ask that of her," Tommy said as Keema nodded her head that they very well could and probably would ask that.

"Sixteen here is not a young age to be married," Alexa said, matter-of-factly, as Tommy glared over at her. "It actually is expected for you to be married by the time that you are eighteen."

"That's two years from now and come on they wouldn't ask that of her. She's not from this planet," Tommy said as Alexa gave him a weak smile.

"But we can't wait two years for them to get married. Their marriage will somehow allow us to be able to defeat the anondrones. I don't know if it is because they will be able to find some sort of power or that they, themselves, will be able to unlock something from within. It has to be done sooner rather than later, for all of us," Alexa said as Tommy just shook his head and then looked over at Jason and Kim, who seemed equally stunned to hear news of this sort.

But they had said it was just a rumor and there was a chance that it might not come true. That was what Tommy was betting on right now, otherwise he was going to have a severe emotional breakdown. He was going against way to many things if he let this happen.

"I thought it was going to be some crazy mission, where they go to Chicky-chicky-bang-bang on some foreign planet lightyears away from here, get some powers that no one else can possess and everything would be smooth sailing. I never thought they would be asked to get married," Kim said as the Dycon rangers exchanged a glance. They still knew that there was a chance that they were going to have to go on a crazy mission, but that was something all of them had expected.

"That's not out of the question, but it is less likely than them having to get married. We may be wrong," Daniel said as Tommy just shook his head.

This is not what he thought would happen when he agreed to take care of Katie. He had never thought that he would be attacked again, let alone put on another ranger team. Then she became a ranger herself, which was something that he had promised himself wouldn't happen. Katie wouldn't have to live a life in fear of everything that might happen to her. Now this had happened and she was going to have to get married at the age of sixteen. He couldn't quite make himself believe that it was true.

"What about when they go back to Earth? It's not normal there for a sixteen and eighteen year old to be married," Jason said as Conner looked over at them. He had already thought of a solution for that problem, but he doubted any of them were going to like it.

"Anthony can be a new student at Reefside and they can start going out after he's there for a few weeks. It's a perfect cover for them being together and unless he lives with Tommy people probably won't suspect anything. After Katie finishes college, he pops the question and they get married on Earth. It looks like any other teenage romance," Conner said as the three other rangers looked over at him. They all knew that he had not come up with that answer in the last minute. Conner didn't come up with answers like that unless he had had a few hours to think it out.

"You already knew?" Tommy asked as Conner nodded his head yes.

"I was given a heads up," Conner said as they heard the metal door slide open and looked up to see Katie yawning. That officially ended their conversation about what might happen when they went to talk to his parents.

"Anthony up yet?" Win asked as Katie shook her head no and then went to sit down next to Tommy.

"No and I think it's best just to let him sleep a little while longer. Who knows what we're going to have to do," Katie said as she looked over at Tommy, who seemed slightly concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Kate," Tommy said as he pulled her closer and gave her a hug. He did not like what she was facing, but he knew that it was something that they were going to have to deal with.

"Are the anondrones gone?" Katie asked as Keema nodded her head yes and Katie smiled over at them. "I guess we'll be going to his parents soon to find out whatever the hell it is that we have to do."

"It's going to be something that you can handle," Alexa said, confidently, as the four Tinnean rangers looked at her as if she was crazy. They had a good idea as to how Katie was going to react and it did not necessarily scream happy feelings for her.

"I hope so," Katie said as she concentrated on a patch of floor. She couldn't bring herself to look at the rest of them, knowing that they didn't agree with what was going on, for the most part.

"You ready to go?" Anthony asked as he stepped over to the open door and Katie nodded her head yes. She had no clue how she had gotten herself in to something like this, but she knew better than to screw it up now.

"Yeah, I guess we'll be back as soon as we know something," Katie said as the others nodded and then looked at each other. They were quite sure that when the two of them came back, they would be bearing news that none of them could believe.

"You all right?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head yes. The streets had been destroyed in several places by the anondrones, but not enough to block their way to Anthony's parents.

"I'll be better when I know exactly what we have to do," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head. He felt the same way and he was much more worried than she was. He now had to live up to the prophecy that had been made about him hundreds of years before and he was not sure if he was ready for it.

"So will I," Anthony said as they reached his parent's home. It seemed to take no time for them to arrive this time, but the two of them were far too occupied to notice the haste they were making. "Mom! Dad!"

"What are you doing back so soon?" Phillip asked as he walked through a wall and looked over at Katie and Anthony. He was sure that it was going to take them at least a day to agree to go into this completely blind. He had thought that Anthony would make her wait that long, just because of what it really might be.

"We want to know what we have to do," Anthony said as Leza stepped through the wall and looked over at the two of them. She honestly hoped that she had heard him wrong. She was not ready to tell them about the mission and the marriage.

"Andy...it's much more serious than you think it is," Leza said as Katie looked over at her and then up at Anthony. What in the world did she mean by that?

"We don't have the time to wait around for anything else to happen. I have to get back to Earth and so do a lot of the other rangers. Tommy's ass is on a platter for his job right now and I'll fail my grade if I don't get back soon. There are other things going on in our lives that are just as serious," Katie said, seriously, as they looked at her. Her problems were definitely severe, but what she was about to be told would make them seem much smaller.

"Are you nervous?" Leza asked as Katie let out a shaky breath. They all knew the answer to that question. She didn't have to ask to be able to figure it out.

"A little bit," Katie said as Leza smiled over at her and then nodded for them to follow her.

"That's to be expected," Phillip said as Katie looked at the wall they had gone through, then over at Anthony who merely grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

"Ow," Katie said, as she clutched her stomach, when they reached the other side, which caused the others to look at her in concern. They had forgotten about humans having an adverse reaction to the walls here.

"You okay?" Anthony asked as Katie shook her head no and took in a shaky breath. She had never felt this type of pain before and she wondered how much more of it that they had in store for her.

"It does that when you are getting used to it," Phillip said as Anthony helped her try to stand up straight before she slumped back down against him. She wished that they would have warned her before she went through the damn wall.

"What do we have to do?" Anthony asked as he picked Katie up and walked over to where his parents were sitting down and took as seat with her in his arms.

"Fulfill the prophecy," Leza said as Katie spared them a confused glare. Hadn't they done most of that already?

"Mom, Dad, you can't be serious," Anthony said as Katie looked up at him, wondering what he had figured out and why it was disturbing him so much.

"We are, Anthony. You have to get married," Leza said as Katie looked at them like a deer in the headlights. That had not been one of the things that had flashed through her mind over the last few hours.

"You've got to be kidding. I thought we'd have to hike to the top of Mount Wannahockalougie, get some powers and everything else would just come as time goes on," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her. That was more along the lines of what he had been thinking himself, but marriage had crossed his mind, if only for a few seconds. He knew the customs of this planet, but he had thought that they would surely not ask that out of her.

"In order to get the powers you must already be married," Phillip said, as Katie looked over at Anthony and he gave her a weak smile. He didn't like this any better that she did.

"My brother is going to climb the freaking wall," Katie said as she raked her hands through her hair. She knew Tommy was not going to like it when he heard it.

"I wouldn't worry about him nearly as much as what else is ahead of you," Leza said as Anthony looked over at them. They had not met Tommy and he had the feeling that when they did, that they'd understand what she meant. They would know he was a powerful ranger.

"You don't know my brother and he is going to climb the freaking wall," Katie said as Anthony pulled her closer and she snuggled more into him. She just couldn't believe this was what they were asking out of her. "Can you do this?"

"If you can," Anthony said, as he looked over at his parents. He felt there was much more to this than what they were telling them and he wanted to know everything, now. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"You will have to truly be married, in every way, Anthony and then you have to travel to Alegia to retrieve the powers," Phillip said as Anthony gulped and Katie hid her face completely. She was so glad that Tommy was not here to hear that; it was going to be bad enough when she had to say something to him.

"Every way?" Anthony asked, carefully, as his mother nodded her head yes and Katie looked up at him, praying he would tell her that she was thinking the wrong thing. "Shit."

"Anthony, we never thought that this would happen so soon. We thought we would have several more years to prepare you," Leza said, sadly, as Anthony nodded his head then looked down at Katie. She was taking this much better than he thought she would.

"And we have to go to Alegia? I thought that was a mythical region of the planet," Anthony said as Leza shook her head no and Katie looked at Anthony again. She still hadn't gotten over the first part of what her parents said.

"When you say every way you mean...we have..." Katie said as she could find nothing to describe what she was trying to say to them. This was not a question she had ever thought she was going to have to ask and it was certainly not something she had ever talked to Tommy about. Now she was going to have to tell him everything that was going to happen. He was not going to climb the wall, he was going to hit the ceiling and possibly go through it.

"That's exactly what we mean," Leza said as Katie suddenly stood up and marched through the wall that they had walked through, which caused her to collapse.

"How long?" Anthony asked as he headed for the wall. He knew that Katie would have fallen down if he had not been beside her when they came through the first time.

"You have to be married tomorrow by sunset," Phillip said as Anthony nodded his head. That did not leave them very long at all to prepare themselves for what was ahead. "We'll be up to the center in a few hours, Andy."

"Okay," Anthony said as he disappeared through the wall and bent down to help Katie up.

"Phillip, that girl knows nothing of our marriage customs," Leza said as Phillip could only nod his head yes. It disturbed him that they were going to probably cause this girl pain, but anything worthwhile was painful there.

"That is why she has to be completely willing and she is," Phillip said as Leza looked over at him and nodded her head. She knew that they were asking far too much out of these teenagers, but they had no other choice and even Anthony had realized that when this happened, his life was going to become completely different.

AN: Tommy is going to climb the wall in the next chapter, I promise. I have to do his character justice and I also would like to inform everyone here of something.

It has recently come to my attention that one of my stories was taken by a moderator of the group powerrangercouples at Yahoo. Anyone who writes fiction here may want to check out the messages to insure that your writing has not been stolen as well.

Thank you for reading and I hope that you have enjoyed the story so far and I honestly have no clue where it is going to end yet.


	42. Tommy's Reaction

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"I'm sorry, Katie," Anthony said as Katie looked up at him and reached to grab him around the neck. He then gently pulled her up and looked over at her. He had never seen her look that pale and he wondered why these walls affected her so much. It had never bothered him before. "Can you walk?"

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Katie murmured into his neck as she leaned closer to him. Anthony could feel the tingles running up and down his spine, knowing how close she was, but he quickly shook it off. He could not allow his mind to be clouded when he could tell that she honestly did not feel well.

"Don't worry, I got you," Anthony whispered as he picked her up and she placed a hand over her mouth.

"I'm gonna be sick," Katie said as they stepped out side and she threw up onto the ground. This was surely a good way to act in front of someone you were about to marry, but if she had known what the damn walls could do, she would not have walked through them the first time.

"I'll get you something to help with that when we get back," Anthony said as Katie laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She hadn't thought that walking through a couple of walls would do this to her, but it had.

"Okay," Katie said as Anthony looked down at her and suddenly saw all the things that she prided herself for. She was innocent and scared of what was to come, but she was going to do this and he respected her for keeping her word.

"Kate, I know we only met a couple of weeks ago and I hate that all of this has happened so quickly. I never imagined that this is what would happen when the prophecy was fulfilled," Anthony said as Katie opened her eyes and smiled up at him. He was trying to apologize for something that he could not help and she knew that he wished they could have met at a different time. The fact was, they didn't, and now they were having to do something that was going to change their lives.

"It was going to happen to us anyway, Andy, it might as well happen now, before either of us becomes too serious with anything else," Katie said as Anthony bit his bottom lip, before she reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He needed to stop worrying about her, because she knew that Tommy was going to be ten times worse.

"How are we going to tell them?" Anthony asked as Katie shrugged her shoulders, then laid her head back against his shoulder. She couldn't really think of how to tell all of them that they were going to have to get married, tomorrow.

"I don't know. First of all we are going to have to explain to them why I can't walk. Tommy's not going to take that too well," Katie said, weakly, as he opened the door to the center and stepped inside, where the other rangers were still sitting in the hall. He had thought that he would have a few more minutes before he had to talk to them, but they weren't that lucky.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked as Anthony carefully placed Katie on the ground and she then shook her head no. She wasn't strong enough to walk on her own right now, although she was sure they could fix that in a few minutes. The medicines here seemed to be much better than those on Earth.

"Well, let me get something for her and then I'll explain everything," Anthony said as he picked Katie back up and then walked into the central room and placed her in a chair.

"She had to walk through the sphoric glass, didn't she?" Alexa asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and Alexa handed Katie a bottle. She knew that the effects could make any one sick, but for those that had never dealt with it before, it was most painful. "Drink it all, it'll make you feel better."

"As long as I don't throw up again," Katie said as Alexa smiled and looked over at Anthony. He looked worried and she didn't blame him for feeling that way. Tommy was going to blow his top and the rest of the rangers were not going to be much better. They had tried to warn them, but the only one that really seemed to be a believer was Conner and they just thought that was because it was easier on him.

"So, what's happened? What did they say?" Tommy asked as Katie rubbed her eyes then looked up at Anthony, to see what he was going to say to her brother. They both would have liked it much better if his parents had been here to answer the question of what had been said. They would certainly be able to answer some of Tommy's questions better, although they might piss him off even more.

"We have to be married by sundown tomorrow," Anthony said as Tommy looked between the two of them, hoping one would dispute what the other had said, but neither of them did. They just had to be pulling his leg about this one. They really couldn't be asking the two of them to do this.

"Shit," Tommy muttered as Katie looked over at Tommy; he didn't even know the part that was going to make him blow his top yet.

"In every way, Tommy," Katie said as Tommy dropped the glass that he had been holding and stared over at her. He knew what every way meant on Earth and by the look in her eyes, it meant the same thing here. There was no way that that was going to happen.

"How in the hell are they expecting you to handle that? You're sixteen damn it!" Tommy yelled as Katie couldn't help but smile a weary smile. This was exactly what they had expected from him and she had the feeling that he was just warming up and that she might be the only one that could calm him down. "You are not doing this. We're not helping them anymore. We're going home."

"Hold on just one second, Tommy. How in the hell do you have the right to tell me what I can and can't do? I'm here, aren't I, and I have the right to choose to do this. That's why I'm here in the first place, if you haven't figured it out. If I don't do this, this world will be destroyed. You don't want that on your conscience, now do you?" Katie asked as she glared up at him and he glared down at her. The others were beginning to see the fight that was about to happen, but all of them hoped that the two of them would still be able to talk to each other after it.

"I wouldn't mind it right now. You're a teenager and I'm not risking you getting married and then getting pregnant in high school. Kate, you have another life besides the one here and you have to think about that," Tommy said as Leza and Phillip walked into the center and saw the ranting man. This must be Katie's brother.

"This is coming from a man that had sex with her only a couple of weeks ago," Katie shot back as Tommy looked over at her, shocked that she would pull that sort of ammunition into their fight. She usually would just fire back with something that wouldn't irk him any more than normal, but he had obviously stepped on her toes, somehow.

"That's different. We're adults and we love each other," Tommy said as Katie stood up and walked over to her brother.

"You sure acted like adults when you put us in the position of possibly having to find a new ranger because she might have been pregnant. You didn't think it out Tommy; I've thought it out. I know what I'm going to do," Katie said as Tommy glared at her and she looked up at him. His glares did not scare her like it did most other rangers. She was used to seeing it from him, especially if she had to wake him up in the morning.

"So you'll go cold turkey once you're back on Earth?" Tommy asked as Katie glared at him and he took a small step back. She was now pissed at him; there was no other word for how she felt about his words.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't do the same thing," Katie said as she focused her attention on his eyes. "Tell me you wouldn't marry Kim if you were told you had to; if it was the only way you'd save Earth."

"I…I…what the hell does that have to do with what you are doing?" Tommy exclaimed as Katie glared at him. She knew that he could not find a way to disagree with her. They all knew that he would marry Kim if he was told that it was the only way to save the Earth.

"My point is that you have to take a chance sometimes and you know what Tommy, you know that better than anyone else here. I know you would have done this at my age, without a second thought about what it might do to you," Katie said as Tommy looked down at the ground. Katie was quickly backing him into a corner and he couldn't think of a way out of it. Everything she had said so far was true and he knew that he shouldn't let Katie get much more of a roll.

"But not with someone I had just met," Tommy said as Katie glared at him and Jason and Kim looked over at him. Katie was going to call that lie too. They all knew he would have married Kim at a much younger age if that had been a choice.

"No, you were evil at the time that you first met her, so you wouldn't have right away, but after you came back to the good side, you would have married her. I've already said the same thing to her and I know you can't disagree with me," Katie said as Tommy threw a table across the room, which Anthony caught before it crashed into him. Tommy had a right to be pissed at him, but Katie was just put in a bad position and it seemed she was the only one that would take Tommy head on. Everyone else would have been fine if he had stormed around the center and destroyed everything, which was still a possibility.

"But why every way? Why can't you just get married and wait on some things?" Tommy asked as Katie, shrugged her shoulders. She hadn't exactly thought to ask that question because she was so confused when she heard about it herself.

"In order for them to be able to get the power that will defeat the anondrones, they have to be truly joined," Leza said as Anthony's face burned red and he looked away from Katie, who was still glaring at Tommy.

He certainly didn't like the way that his mom had worded that. He could just imagine the looks that he was receiving from his fellow rangers, but he was not paying attention to them. He was watching Tommy's reaction to the entire prophecy being brought in front of him. He knew that if Tommy really did take Katie away, there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"But she's only sixteen," Kim groaned as Leza and Phillip looked over at her. She was not supposed to be one of the ones that had a solid complaint against this. The only person that they thought was going to have a problem was Tommy.

"Yes and…" Phillip said as Tommy glared over at him so that he could finish the sentence for him.

"That's normal here, blah, blah, blah. On Earth it is crazy to ask a sixteen year old to be married and stay that way for life. What the hell are you thinking," Tommy roared as Phillip looked at him and thoroughly studied his form. He was beginning to see what Anthony was talking about. He could feel the powers venting out of him at the moment and he did not want to provoke him any further. He knew that the rangers were going to have enough problems without fighting amongst themselves.

"I know all of this and I did not expect you to be willing about the marriage, but they have already agreed to do this and you can not stop it," Phillip said as Jason grabbed Tommy's shoulder and shook his head no. They were here to fight, but it was not against each other and they had to remember that, especially in this situation. The choices had been made and if Katie and Anthony could deal with the consequences the rest of them could as well. They were teenagers and willing to take this on and if they could deal with it, then the rest of them would just have to take it with a grain of salt. "We didn't think it would happen so soon either, but it has and they have to do this."

"I don't agree with it," Tommy said as Katie looked over at Jason, who seemed to be just as pissed as Tommy, but he was not arguing. She knew that he wanted to get back to Hayley as soon as he could and the more they fought amongst themselves, the worse it would get.

"Tommy, I know you don't want this to happen now. It's not ideal for any of us, but Tommy, it's got to be done. It's the only way we're going to get home," Katie said as Tommy merely nodded his head, then walked out of the room. He had to have some space or he was going to say something that he was going to really regret.

"Tommy," Kim said as she followed him, knowing that he was going to need someone to talk to. This was not something that anyone could get out of them in just a few minutes of yelling.

"Kim, she's just too young to be able to handle this," Tommy said as Kim gave him a hug. It felt good to have his arms around her and he could feel himself calming down, but it was not enough right now. He still had too much running through his brain. "How are her friends going to understand that she just starts dating a new guy after breaking up with Conner? I don't know if that plan will work."

"Well, we've been gone a couple of days already Tommy. By the time we get back it may not be so hard for them to believe it if she says that the broke up yesterday. Tommy, if we could pull this off with everything going on in our lives right now, I know they can pull off what they are going to have to do. They are both smart and know what they are putting themselves through," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head and then followed her down the hall.

"I just thought I would be married before her," Tommy said, sadly, as Kim began to laugh. She couldn't believe that Tommy was thinking of something like that right now. "Kim, it's not funny."

"Yes it is. You're jealous that she's getting married first," Kim said as she continued to laugh at the thought of it all. Tommy was usually sensible about things, but she couldn't imagine that thought coming to his mind when his sixteen-year-old sister was having to get married to someone from a foreign planet. "Now, you know, Tommy, we can get married sooner rather than later if you want."

"Kim, I'm not asking that of you now. There's too much going on for us to be able to settle down right now," Tommy said as Kim continued to laugh at him. "It may be funny, but I know it's not this funny."

"You're right, it's really not, but Tommy, she's not stupid. She knows what she's doing and she knows it is not socially accepted on Earth. She'll have a plan for how they are going to deal with it," Kim said as Tommy nodded. He just knew that he couldn't exactly accept some things for much longer, but he knew that if they were married, what could he really do?

"But you're serious about marriage," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and she gave his hand a squeeze. She had always been serious about him.

"Tommy, we talked about it when we were younger and don't you think that if we are back together now that we'll eventually get there?" Kim asked as he reached over and gave her a hug. "Now, do you think you can go back in there and be all right?"

"Yeah, but Katie's going to be pissed," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement. Katie had the right to be pissed at him, but Tommy wanted to look out for her best interests. She was not allowing him to do that anymore and it had to hurt just a little bit. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Tommy, she's your sister and acts a lot like you. I know she is going to be pissed at you," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head.

"Tommy, we've got to talk," Katie said as he looked around and saw Anthony was talking to the Dycon rangers, while his parents were talking to Jason and Conner. "We can go outside."

"Okay," Tommy said as Katie led him outside and she then sat down right outside the doors. She did not want to wander too far away from the center, as she did not know her way around this area.

"Tommy, I know you are just trying to do what you feel you have to do, but I have to do this. I didn't tell you that I felt something towards him since he came to Earth," Katie said as Tommy looked over at her. He hadn't thought she was going to confess anything. "I thought I would be able to ignore it. I didn't think that it was anything at all, then I get here and find out about the prophecy. Tommy, things make sense now."

"So, what about Conner?" Tommy asked as Katie looked over at him, as much as she had liked Conner before, she knew that it had changed and she was sure Conner felt it as well.

"It's changed and he's just a good friend. There is not much that I can do to change what is ahead of me, but I know Conner will always be there for me," Katie said as Tommy nodded his head. He had gotten the same impression from everything that Conner had been saying. "And Tommy, I'm not planning on doing anything crazy with Andy, not until we're married on Earth. You know why we have to do everything we have to do."

"Yeah, I know," Tommy said as Katie leaned against his shoulder and he then pulled her closer. "I just didn't think I would lose you this quickly."

"Tommy, it's not like I'm moving out any time soon. I'm going to live my life on Earth like any other teenager; I'll just have a little secret to keep from everyone," Katie said with a smile as Tommy could only shake his head.

"Have you thought about how you are going to hide it?" Tommy asked as Katie nodded her head yes. She had actually been thinking about it while he had been talking to Kim.

"Hayley's long lost cousin," Katie said as Tommy just shook his head. Jason and Hayley were going to be parents within the next year and he knew that Hayley had enough stress on her already. "Andy will come with a ready-made story by the time we go back, Tommy. Hayley will only have to provide a bedroom and we'll find him some clothes."

"What about high school transcripts?" Tommy asked as Anthony was still young enough to go to high school and he definitely thought it would be a good idea to have him attend a school as well.

"We'll find a way to make it work. I'm sure that a few lies here and there and some truth about what he knows will make it all come together," Katie said as Tommy nodded his head then gave her a hug.

"Kate, don't change," Tommy said as she smiled up at him and then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll try not to, Tommy, but I've got to grow up sometime," Katie said as he let out a sigh. He did not want to be reminded that she was going to really grow up one day and he would be back to being alone.

"I just never thought it would be so soon," Tommy said as Katie nodded her head as well and then settled against him.

The two of them had certainly bonded over the last few months and if they had known what was ahead of them, they would have done more. But, they realized that you can't know what is ahead, that's what makes life what it is and everyday they were here, they were thankful. They knew just how quickly a life could be taken away.

AN: I may not have done Tommy as over the top as some of you expected, but I tried. I just didn't think I could bring myself to making them have a huge blow up and no longer get along. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think of it!


	43. The Talk

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"Go get a good night's sleep," Tommy whispered as Katie looked over at him and then gave him a hug. "You're going to need all the rest you can get."

"Yeah I am. Thanks so much, Tommy," Katie said as she stood up and wiped off the back of her pants.

"It's not a problem. I got you into this mess," Tommy said as Katie helped him up and he looked at the doors. He didn't want to face what was behind them, but he knew that he had to. He knew that he had to talk to Anthony about everything that was happening, no matter how much he didn't want to have that responsibility at this time in his life.

"Yeah, Tommy, you waltzed in one day and handed me the powers and the prophecy that I now live under. This didn't happen because I live with you; it happened because it was meant to happen, Tommy. You have those things in your life too and you know that you just have to live with them," Katie said with a smile as Tommy nodded. He could definitely think of someone that fit into what she was saying.

"Yeah, I do and I guess that I'm a lucky man because of it," Tommy said as they walked back in and Tommy immediately began looking for Kim. He needed her comfort right now, more than he needed anything else.

"You have a good night, Tommy," Katie said as she walked over to Anthony, who was still talking to the Dycon rangers. They were all worried that their leader was about to leave them, but it had to be done. It was the only way that they could save this planet and they knew just how much that meant to Anthony. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself. You two all right?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head yes then let out a long yawn.

"Where can I sleep?" Katie asked as she leaned against his shoulder and she looked at his fellow rangers. They did not seem very happy, but it was going to be absolutely fine. They had learned to live with what prophecies might do to them.

"I'll take you to a room," Anthony said as he nodded his head good night to the others. "You okay?"

"Just tired and I need to ask you something," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head that she could go ahead and ask. "What are the wedding traditions like here? Because if it's like everything else, I won't expect any of it."

"It's not very complicated," Anthony said, carefully, as Katie looked over at him. She could tell that he was holding back something from her and that did not make her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"Is it painful?" Katie asked, as Anthony could only nod his head yes. Almost everything on this planet that was worth while had some pain involved in it, although it was only temporary, but he knew that it was unexpected for someone who came from another planet. "Oh my gosh."

"I'm so sorry, Kate," Anthony said as he gave her a hug and she gripped him tighter than she ever had before. She did not like thinking about how much pain she was probably going to be in two days from now.

"Is there anything I am going to do here that won't make me feel horrible?" Katie asked as Anthony let out a long sigh. He did not want to have to be honest with her right now, but he knew he couldn't afford to lie to her about anything. He needed for her to trust him completely and that was a lot to ask of a person that he had met so recently.

"You want my honest answer?" Anthony asked backing away to look down at her. The way she was looking at him told him that she wanted the truth, but he had to hear it from her first.

"Yeah," Katie said as he refixed his hug and then placed his chin on top of her head.

"I doubt it, Kate," Anthony said as he heard her whimper and he carefully picked her up and carried her into the room. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I just have a lot to think about, Andy," Katie muttered as she slowly let go of him and looked up at him.

"Katie, don't think about it too much, please. I want you to be able to relax tonight," Anthony said as she nodded her head, but couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry that all of this is happening."

"It's not your fault that this is the way things are here," Katie mumbled as Anthony placed a kiss on her forehead and then gave her another hug.

"I promise that I'll make up for everything that you have to go through, when I get the chance," Anthony whispered as Katie nodded her head and then looked at the bed. It did not look like it was very comfortable to sleep on. "Oh, that can be changed."

"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning," Katie said as she gave him another hug and then went over to the bed to lie down. She knew she was going to need to be rested.

(! #$&&$#!)

"Anthony," Conner said as Anthony looked over at him. He expected to have to talk to him and definitely Tommy tonight. He knew he was not going to get any rest tonight, unlike Katie, although he was fine if he only got a few hours of sleep.

"Yeah," Anthony said as he let out a sigh. He wanted to rest, but he knew it was not necessarily important for him to do so. It was much more important that he insure that Katie got some rest, before she had to deal with everything that was being thrown at her.

"How are you taking this?" Conner asked as Anthony looked over at him and smiled.

"I think that scared shitless would be a good way to say how I feel," Anthony said as he sat down and Conner sat down across from him. "I never meant for this to happen."

"I know and so does everyone else. Hell, Kate, didn't even want this to happen," Conner said as Anthony nodded. He knew that Katie had not wanted this to happen, but when other things start coming into the picture, it is hard to ignore it anymore.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Anthony said as Conner looked over at him. They all meant to not hurt anyone, but he knew that even the best intentions could have problems arise.

"I don't believe you would on purpose, but we all hurt those that we care about some times," Conner said as Anthony nodded his head. He expected this from Tommy, but not from Conner. He had never thought of him as much of a philosopher.

"I know what you mean. I didn't ever mean to do this to Keema. I never thought that the prophecy would really come true," Anthony said as he looked over at the doors. He desperately wanted to get out of the confines of this center while he was still able to. "You want to go outside?"

"Will we be attacked?" Conner asked as he could only imagine what Dr. O would say if something else happened on this mission, way too much had happened already. At least that was he had been able to gather from listening to Kim, Jason, and Tommy talk. They had never been on a mission that had changed them this much and he understood how it was definitely unnerving to them. He didn't really like this as well, but he had to act like he was okay with it.

"I doubt it," Anthony said as he opened the glass door and stepped outside. "The anondrones usually only attack once a day."

"You know Katie's young," Conner said, although he was the same age as Anthony, he still felt this was way too young to be getting married, on any planet.

"Yeah and it worries me. Here you're expected to be married by eighteen and have your first child by twenty. Only Power Rangers are excused from that sort of life," Anthony said as Conner stared over at him. That was really unbelievable for a culture that didn't seem to have a yound dying age.

"But you live as long as we do?" Conner asked as Anthony nodded his head yes.

"Women here can't have children after thirty," Anthony said as Conner just looked over at him. There was another change between humans and the Eltarians. "You see why we have to get married young."

"Yeah," Conner said as he shook his head. "How much did you know?"

"I knew I'd have to marry someone from another planet. I just never thought that it would be so soon and to someone this young," Anthony said as they heard the doors open behind them. When they looked back it was only Tommy and he looked like he needed to talk as well. "Hey."

"She go to sleep?" Tommy asked, as he walked to the other side of Anthony. He had just gotten Kim to go to sleep and he was now out here doing what he had to do.

"She's in bed, but I can't guarantee that she went to sleep. She's got a lot of things on her mind," Anthony said as Tommy nodded his head. He had expected that from the both of them.

"And so do you," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head.

He had a lot on his mind, but most of it did not have to do with how everything was going to go with Katie. He had much more left for him to worry about, namely the mission they were going to have to go on once they were married.

"You need to talk, don't you?" Anthony asked as Tommy nodded his head and looked over at Conner, to try to get him to leave. Conner could see Tommy clearly and knew what he wanted. He then clapped Anthony on the shoulder and turned to go back inside. He just hoped that Anthony would be able to survive whatever Tommy had to say to him.

"I don't really know you, Anthony," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head. He knew that Tommy was Katie's only family and expected him to be extremely protective of her.

"I know and I don't know much about you either," Anthony said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "But I have tried to get to know Katie as well as I can in the time I've had."

"Yeah, I know, but there are still some things that you don't know," Tommy said as Anthony looked over at Tommy. What else was there that he needed to find out about Katie? "You don't know that she gets scared when she's in a car with someone that she's never ridden with. You don't know that she can kick almost any guy at the dojo's ass whenever she gets the inkling and you don't know that she is a girl that has a lot of emotional problems coming along with her."

"I knew some of that Tommy. She told me about her parents and your parents; I knew then that she had a lot that she still has to deal with, but I'm going to be there for her," Anthony said as Tommy nodded. He knew what it was like to feel that you needed to look after someone like that. "I'm not going to leave her for anything like that, I really do care about her Tommy."

"You do?" Tommy asked as Anthony looked over at him. Did he really think that he would be going through this whole ordeal just to satisfy a prophecy?

"Tommy, I wouldn't do this if I didn't feel something for her. Even the prophecy says that I will fall in love, so this isn't by chance that I feel this way for her," Anthony said as he sat down on a patch of grass. "I knew when I first saw her what was going to happen. I just didn't want for it to happen; I knew how young she was and what it would do to her."

"You've got to be kidding," Tommy said as he sat down next to Anthony and Anthony looked over at him. It would be much easier to say he was kidding, but it was not the truth and Tommy needed to be able to trust him.

"No, that's why I tried to stay away from all of you more than the others. Some times it's hard to let your mind agree with what your heart wants and I knew she was dating someone. I didn't want to be the one to break her and Conner up," Anthony said as he placed his head in his hands. He couldn't help but be ashamed of himself although the break ups had been mutual. He had vowed to himself that he would never put another man in that position, but he turned up doing that in the end. "I hate myself for doing that to them."

"Don't do that," Tommy said as he looked out at the quiet buildings. If this was Earth there would still be plenty of activity, but this wasn't his home planet. He felt that Anthony could almost hear his thoughts and that alone made him wish to speak quickly. "I've seen what that can do to people."

"Yeah, look I'm not trying to win your good graces or make you believe in a couple of hours that I'm right for your sister; I know that is impossible, but Tommy I'll devote the next six years to it," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him and smiled. He was trying to do the right thing for having to get married on such short notice and Tommy did honestly believe that once they were back to Earth they would start at the beginning. He just didn't want to admit that to either of them for fear that they might do something else.

"I'm just worried about losing her. I've lost a lot in my life lately and it's just hard to think that six months ago she didn't have a clue about the Power Rangers or any of this mess, now she's in the middle of it," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head. He had known about the rangers all his life and none of this was a surprise to him, but he could definitely see how Tommy was worried that he might lose Katie in the new world she had to live in.

"You're not going to lose her, Tommy. She's still going to have to stay with you when we get back to Earth and we'll basically just be a teenage couple, which is where we really should start, but things are in the way of that happening," Anthony said as he leaned back and looked up at the sky. It was clear, which did worry Anthony, but he had to push his worry out of his mind tonight. He knew that everything was going to be fine if they could just complete the mission and get back alive.

"Yeah, but it's not the same, it's not like most other teenage relationships," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head in agreement. This was not going to be normal, by any stretch of the word, for either of them. "What happens if you meet someone else on Earth?"

"First of all I would have to explain that I am from a foreign planet and married to someone. If that doesn't freak them out then, I've got other things to keep people away," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him and Anthony could tell that he hadn't answered the question the way that he had wanted him to.

"What if your feelings about her change?" Tommy asked as Anthony looked at the ground and tried to think of the answer that would not get him promptly slapped.

"I'm sure that everything will evolve as time goes by and that my feelings will change for her, but I know that deep down it will all stay the same. You can't tell me that you don't know what that's like," Anthony said, pointedly, as he looked over at Tommy and he could only nod his head. He had lived that life with Kimberly and although it was not exactly pleasant he knew that although time changes feelings, deep down it stayed the same. He didn't know how Anthony knew about all of it, but his point was something that did come with is reality.

"So you really do love her?" Tommy asked as Anthony nodded his head yes. He knew that it was hard to believe that, but it was the truth. If he had not been head of heals for her, he would not be asking this much out of her.

"It's not the same as Keema and I know that Katie feels the same way; she might not say it to you, but she wouldn't have let Conner go as easily if she felt differently and I wouldn't have forced her to," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him and then up at the dark sky.

"So, I don't have much to worry about," Tommy said as Anthony looked at him. He was not sure what Tommy had to worry about, but he was sure that it was not as bad as he had it pictured in his mind.

"Well, you have to worry about the mission we have to go on, but you don't have to worry about me purposely breaking her heart. I promise you that much," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him and then gave him a hug.

"Well, I guess I should welcome you into the family," Tommy said with a smile, as Anthony let out a long sigh. He had been worried about winning over Tommy's approval since he had started feeling things for Katie. "But I'll kick your ass if you hurt her."

"I expected that," Anthony said with a smile as he looked over at Tommy, wondering if he could ask him what was on his mind. "What will I be expected to do on Earth?"

"Relationship wise?" Tommy asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and Tommy let out a low whistle. "Well, I'm probably not the best one to ask; I let a relationship go for no reason at all, but you just want the basics, right?"

"Right," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him and saw exactly how nervous he was, not that he really blamed him. He was getting married and then going on a mission to save this world all within the next forty-eight hours. It had to be putting more stress on him than what he really deserved to deal with.

"After you get there, I'd wait a couple of weeks before you ask her out, we don't want to make it seem like you already know each other. Then you'll date for awhile and whenever you feel like it, ask her to marry you on Earth, but just as a suggestion, wait until she's close to out of college. After that you can truly live as a married couple," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head.

"I just don't know how I'll keep my feelings hidden from everyone," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him.

"You don't have to exactly keep them hidden, you just have to take your time in revealing them to Katie. She'll probably get a kick out of it, to tell you the truth," Tommy said as Anthony laughed. He could imagine Katie fighting back laughter as he tried to act like just a friend for a couple of weeks.

"Who am I going to live with?" Anthony asked as Tommy looked over at him. It was obvious that Katie had not filled him in on her plan just yet.

"Hayley, probably. You can't live with us or there would definitely be some questions asked about why I am allowing the two of you to date," Tommy said as Anthony nodded. He could deal with living with Hayley; he had just wanted to make sure that he was not going to wind up living with someone that he had never heard of before.

"We should probably try to get some rest," Anthony said as he looked up at the sky. He knew that it was already past midnight and that the sun would be rising sooner than they expected.

"You can try to get some rest and I'll go lay down with Kim. I don't think I'll be able to sleep," Tommy said as he stood up and Anthony followed suit.

"Have a good night," Anthony said as they entered the center and went their different ways.

Both of them knew that they would not be able to sleep tonight, but that they also needed their time alone. They both had thoughts of what was coming that they did not want to share with each other. It had been stressful enough over the last few days and they both knew if they could make it through the wedding, then everything else would come much more easily.

AN: Whew! This chapter took longer to get out than I expected, but then next chapter is the wedding chapter. Yay! I hope that you have all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. At this point I have absolutely no clue where it is going to end, but when I figure it out I will let all of you know. Toodles!


	44. Wedding, of a Kind

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"Good morning," Tommy said as Katie jerked awake and looked over at him. How long had he been sitting in here? And more importantly why was he sitting in here in the first place?

"Don't scare me like that," Katie said as she playfully hit him and he ducked to avoid the pillow that followed. She was so happy and all Tommy could do was smile back at her. He hoped that everything that she did would lead her to true happiness, but he couldn't help but get the feeling that things were going to get ugly, as soon as they were married.

"You sleep good?" Tommy asked as Katie nodded her head yes and then stretched out her back.

"Did you even sleep?" Katie asked as Tommy looked up at the ceiling and she couldn't help but laugh at him. "So you talked to Anthony all night?"

"Well, I had to talk to him for awhile, Katie. You are getting married to him today and no matter how much I don't exactly agree with it, I know it's for the best," Tommy said as Katie reached over and gave him a hug.

"Thank you so much Tommy. You don't know how much that means to me," Katie said as Tommy nodded his head. "And in all reality we'll only be married here. On Earth, we'll just be another couple of teenagers in love. We'll have a lot of time to work things out."

"Yeah, but I know you are more and I know that you'll fight and even die for him. I don't know if I can lose you too," Tommy said as Katie looked over at him. So this was what all of this was really about. This was why he had been so hesitant to allow them to go through with it. She was sure that her getting married bothered him, but it ultimately came down to the fact that he didn't want to lose anymore of his family.

"You're not going to lose me, Tommy. He wouldn't let me die for him, he wouldn't want to live with the guilt," Katie said as she looked up and saw Anthony standing in the doorway. "Hey."

"I just wanted to make sure you were up," Anthony said as Katie nodded her head and Tommy looked up at Anthony as well. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he could see a lot of himself in the boy and that honestly scared him, because he knew just how much he would put himself through to keep a promise. Not that it was a bad thing, but it was no easy road to go down and he was not sure that he knew that. "I'll leave the two of you alone."

"No, I need to go catch a few hours of sleep. You stay," Tommy said as he stood up and walked through the door.

"He's worried about you," Anthony said as he sat down next to Katie and she leaned over against him and he gently slipped his arm around her.

"I know and I'm worried too. I know that this is not going to be easy and that I'm about to go through hell," Katie said as Anthony looked down at her and then pulled her closer. He hated knowing what was about to happen and all the pain it would cause her, but it would be worth it in the end. "I don't have to stay away from you all day, do I?"

"No, but we have to visit my parents again and then we'll get married," Anthony said as Katie nodded her head.

"Andy, there's one thing I need before we can go," Katie said as Anthony gave her a puzzled look. He thought that they had covered just about everything that they could before they could get married.

"What's that Katie?" Anthony asked as she smiled up at him and then reached up to give him a kiss. "Kate, you really don't…"

"Yes, I do," Katie said as she gently pressed her lips to his. She had never had a kiss that felt like this before. Anthony was not presumptive as to what she would allow him to do, although he did allow his hand to travel to her cheek.

"Kate," Anthony breathed as he broke the kiss and looked at her flushed face. He then gave her a kiss on the forehead and pulled her into a strong hug. "We better not do that again."

"I know," Katie whispered as she tried to slow down her breathing.

"Does that answer your question?" Anthony asked as she looked up at him and smiled. She knew that he knew the answer to that already.

"It definitely did, Andy," Katie said as she scooted away from him and then looked over at the door. She knew that they really needed to go ahead and go to his parent's house and do whatever they had to. "We should go on to your parent's, that way we can get back here before the others are really awake."

"Yeah," Anthony said as he stood up and she followed him to the door. "They have the traditional garments for the ceremony and everything else that we'll need."

"Okay," Katie said as they walked out of the center and she smiled as she looked up at the clear sky. "It really is beautiful here."

"Yeah, but you can't stay here for the rest of your life. The things here will always affect you the way that they did the yesterday and no one can live like that for too long," Anthony said as Katie nodded and then reached over to grab his hand.

"The mission we have to go on, do you know what it is going to require?" Katie asked, as Anthony shook his head no.

"I'm afraid that for a wedding present we will get a map of how to get to Alegia and that it will probably be best for us to leave tomorrow," Anthony said as Katie sighed. That was not the type of wedding present that she wanted to receive, but it was the most helpful thing that they could get right now. "Yeah, that's how I feel about it too."

"So we can't even really have a normal wedding and honeymoon period before we go to save the world?" Katie asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and Katie began shaking hers. This was really going to be one hell of a day. "What's your last name?"

"Last name?" Anthony asked as Katie looked over at him and then down at the ground. They didn't even have last names here. There was definitely going to be some problems when he went back to Earth and they had to come up with a last name for him.

"My last name is Oliver, do you even have one?" Katie asked as Anthony thought about it. He had never had a last name, but that was not a problem because he had never met another Anthony.

"I don't think so. I guess that is something else that we are going to have to come up with before I get to Earth," Anthony said as Katie nodded her head in agreement.

"We'll just find out one of Hayley's family name's," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head, that sounded like it would be easy enough. "I didn't think that there would be so many differences."

"You're in for even more," Anthony said as they walked up to his parent's front doorstep and he knocked on the door. He didn't think it wise to barge in on his parents at this time of the morning; they might be retired rangers, but they could still whoop his butt.

"That sounds just wonderful," Katie said, in a tone filled with sarcasm, as Anthony smiled down at her.

"Good morning," Anthony said as his mother opened the door and just stared at him. She had not thought that they would come by this early in the morning. She had thought that they would wait a few more hours, at the very least.

"Anthony, why are you here so early?" Leza asked as she walked them into the house and was shaking her head.

"I want to give her as much of a chance to recover as I can," Anthony whispered, as he gave his mother a hug and she then nodded her head in agreement. She knew that they were going to have so much to do very soon after they got married and they both needed to be in the best physical condition possible.

"I'll go get your father," Leza said as Anthony pulled Katie over to the couch and sat her down in his lap.

"So…" Katie said as she looked back at Anthony and he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's all going to be fine," Anthony said as she nodded her head and he reached up and gave her a quick kiss. "I promise that you'll be able to take it all."

"I'm glad that you think so," Katie said as Leza and Phillip walked in with a box held between them. "What's that?"

"It's the traditional wedding attire," Leza said as she reached into the box and pulled out a nude colored leotard and a pair of nude colored biking shorts.

"You've got to be kidding," Katie said as Leza shook her head no and Katie just raked her hands through her hair. "I never would have imagined that."

"A little bit different I guess," Phillip said as Katie nodded her head yes. It was more than a little bit in her book, but Tommy's reaction was going to be quite different from hers. He would probably think she was naked when she first walked in, if walking in was even a tradition here.

"Only a tiny bit," Katie said as they pulled out a pair of nude leggings out and she looked down at Anthony, who could only shake his head. He had seen it before, but he had to admit that it would not leave much to the imagination and rarely looked good on anyone. "You're going to look like a male ballerina."

"What's that?" Anthony asked as Katie began to laugh as the picture of him leaping across a stage came into her mind.

"I'll show you when you get back to Earth with me," Katie said as Anthony just nodded his head in agreement that he would at least let her show him what it was that she was relating him to.

"You'll be given a package that will have your instructions that you are to look over after the wedding," Leza said as they both nodded their heads and then looked at each other.

"All right. Where will we stay tonight?" Anthony asked, as he was sure that he did not want to stay anywhere near the rangers tonight. They all knew what was going to be happening, but he didn't want them to be in the same building if he could help it.

"We're going to go stay at the center and the two of you can stay here tonight," Phillip said as Anthony nodded and Katie just took in a deep breath. She did not want to even hear him talking about it in front of his parents; it honestly disturbed her that they were this up front with everything.

"Okay," Anthony said as he felt Katie shake in his arms.

"If the two of you will go back to the center and change, then we will be able to proceed with the ceremony as soon as the two of you are ready," Leza said as Katie looked back at Anthony and then nodded her head that she understood what they were asking. "We'll meet you there in a little while."

"Kate, don't," Anthony said as he saw the tears begin to fall and he gave her another hug.

"It's just so different than what I imagined my wedding being like," Katie murmured as she hastily wiped her eyes and then looked away from him. "I'm just being a silly girl."

"Nothing is silly about this," Anthony said as he placed her next to him on the couch, then stood, and looked down at her. "Come on, we can take all the time you need."

"I don't know if I can," Katie said as she reached for his hand and then followed him from the house.

"Tell me what you want and I'll do my best to have it happen," Anthony said as she looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

"You can't give me what I want. My parents are dead, Andy," Katie said as she let the tears flow. "Nothing is ever the same once you lose someone that you care about."

"Give me the chance," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him.

"It's impossible and I know that you love and will take care of me. It's just been a lot to take in, in the last few days and it's kinda hard to believe it," Katie said as the sky turned black again and she looked over at him. They both knew that there was no way that they would make it back to the center first.

"Hide," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him and shook her head no. There was no way she was going to let him fight alone. "Kate, please, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"We're in this together," Katie said as she wiped her eyes and looked him in the eyes. "Tommy…Tommy come in."

"I don't know if you'll be able to get them," Anthony said as the first anondrone landed next to Katie and he quickly kicked it away. "The frequencies are very different here."

"What?" Tommy's tired voice rang over the communicator as Katie kicked an anondrone away before one pinned her against a tree.

"Leave her alone," Anthony said to the anondrone as it looked over at him.

"I have orders," the anondrone said as he roughly shoved her into the tree even harder.

"She's not who you want…you want me," Anthony said as he watched several lights begin to appear around them.

"Andy," Katie groaned as the anondrone continued to grind her sink into the tree.

"No one does that to one of us," Jason said as he grabbed the anondrone and slung it away. "Tell your friends that there are some new rangers in town."

"And we don't waste our time on juvenile bull shit," Kim said as she slammed an anondrone into the ground and looked over at the others as if to dare them to attack.

"We'll be back," the head anondrone said as he looked between the new rangers. There was something about them that made him wonder if they could possibly be Zordon's, but they couldn't be. Zordon was dead and with him being dead, they could never truly be defeated, because no one would be one of Zordon's rangers.

"Kate," Anthony said as he crouched down next to her and she sat up and gave him a weary look. "You okay?"

"Yeah, let's just get this over with," Katie said as she shook her head and looked at the other rangers, noticing that Tommy was not amongst them. "Where's Tommy?"

"He was sound asleep when you called. I didn't think that I needed to wake him," Kim said as she looked over at Katie and Anthony and noticed what they were carrying. "What the hell is that?"

"Wedding garments," Katie said as Kim's mouth dropped open and Jason soon joined her. "You do what you gotta do and trust me when I get married on Earth, spandex will be the furthest from my mind."

"Do we need to wake Tommy up when we get back?" Kim asked as Katie nodded her head yes.

"My parents will be there as soon as they can and we'll go ahead and do the ceremony," Anthony said as Kim nodded her head. She was not so sure how Tommy was going to like that, but he would learn to live with it, one way or another.

"All right," Kim said as she and Jason looked at each other and shook their heads.

"We have to get changed," Katie said as the entered the center and the two of them scurried away from the rest of the rangers.

"I'll wake Tommy," Kim said as Jason just nodded his head and looked over at Conner.

"You've been quiet," Jason said as Conner looked over at him. What was there really to say about it?

"I don't have much to say. She's getting married; she's going to have...I won't go there, and she's going to save a planet and not even a month ago she would have told us we were crazy to even think this might happen," Conner said as Jason nodded his head in agreement.

"Hell of a story to tell the kids though," Jason said as Conner couldn't help but laugh. None of them wanted to even think about kids right now, but it was a story that all of them would love to hear them tell their children one day.

"Yeah, but who wants to know that their father is from an alien planet," Conner said as Jason nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey, Tommy, wake up," Kim said as she bent over and gently shook his shoulder. He had barely been able to get thirty minutes of sleep and she knew that he had expected a lot more, but Tommy was not going to miss the wedding for anything.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked as he looked over at Kim and then rolled over to his other side.

"They are going to have the ceremony soon," Kim said as Tommy sat upright in bed and looked over at her.

"I thought it was going to be this afternoon," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and nodded her head that she agreed with him.

"I guess that Anthony might want to give Kate some time to..." Kim said as Tommy's face contorted into a look of disgust as a thought crossed his mind and he shuddered again.

"Don't...I don't want to think about that anymore than I have to," Tommy said as he slid out of bed and walked over to his bag. "I guess that I need to get dressed."

"So do I," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. Why in the world would she act as if changing in front of him was a big deal?

"I don't mind you changing n here, Kim," Tommy said as Kim smiled over at him and then let out a sigh. "This is more than you just changing in here. What's going on?"

"It's really nothing, I just think that some things are going to go wrong on this mission," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. What else could there be to go wrong? They had dealt with almost everything that he could think of and even some things that he had never thought of before.

"Like what? Kim, we don't need any one to be worried," Tommy said as he pulled on a pair of pants and then walked over to give her a hug. "We'll handle whatever they throw at us."

"I hope we can," Kim said as Tommy smiled down at her and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Now you have to get dressed. I don't think that they'll wait on people here like they do on Earth," Tommy said as Kim smiled at him and then slipped on a shirt and a pair of jeans.

"I know...but it's the dressiest thing that I have," Kim said as Tommy laughed that she could be worried about her appearance at a time like this.

"I don't think that Katie much cares about that," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head and then reached over to give Tommy a kiss on the cheek. It was going to be one hell of a day.

The Ceremony 

"It's freezing," Katie said as Anthony looked down at her and smiled, before he put his arm around her.

"Yeah, I know, but it'll change soon," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him. What did that mean? "Come on."

"Now we can begin," Phillip said as the rangers sat down on the floor and Phillip motioned for Katie and Anthony to come forward. "Join hands."

"Easy enough," Anthony said as Katie looked down at the floor. She had the feeling that this was just too easy right now.

"Please step into this circle," Phillip said as the two of them stepped inside the circle and immediately white light shot up from the floor, which caused the two of them to step closer together. "Now, I must ask the oaths."

"What?" Katie asked, confusedly as Anthony just shook his head that she should keep quiet, they had to hear it all.

"The first is the oath of protection. Will you protect each other until your dying breath is taken?" Phillip asked as they looked at each other. Hadn't they kinda covered this already?

"Yes," they said in unison as Katie let out a low moan as she felt a bond forming around her and Anthony pulling them even closer together.

"It's okay," Anthony whispered as he was a little bit uncomfortable, but that was mainly because he was in the same room as Tommy.

"It hurts," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head, but he knew it was going to get worse before it got better.

"The second is the oath of trust. Will you trust each other to know when a task is enough for the other to take alone? Will you trust that the other will never stray?" Phillip asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a look. They could see the bond that was holding Katie and Anthony becoming stronger and it was obviously causing some discomfort.

"Yes," they said as Katie let out a much louder moan as it felt like the bond was burning an impression into her back and she squirmed as Anthony closed his eyes to try to filter out some of her pain.

"And the third and final oath, the oath of love. Will you love each other no matter what happens and no matter if you no longer want to be together?" Phillip asked as the light burned a bright red and Katie let out a pain filled scream.

"Yes," they both managed to murmur, as Katie let out another scream and Anthony squeezed her a little bit tighter.

"You are married," Phillip said as the light disappeared and the two of them collapsed.

"Don't move them. They'll awake," Leza said as Tommy had gone to check on Katie, but he just looked over at her. They had to do it their way, although he did not agree with it.

"This is bull shit," Tommy muttered over to Kim, as she gave him a harsh look.

"Ahh," Anthony moaned as his eyes opened and he looked over at Katie, who was still soundly passed out on her back. "Kate."

"Shit!" Katie yelled as she leapt up from the floor and grabbed her back. "What the hell was that thing?"

"It grafts tattoos onto your back. It works instead of a wedding ring here," Phillip said as Katie bent over and let out a moan. This was something that she wished they would have warned her about.

"And here is your wedding present," Leza said as she handed her a box and Katie looked down at Anthony, who had managed to sit up now. "Go enjoy your day."

"Thank you," Anthony said as he gave his mother and father a hug, while Katie grimaced. She wanted to get the damn leotard off so that nothing would be touching her back.

"Good-bye, Andy," Leza said as Anthony looked at her and then nodded, before he reached over and took Katie's hand.

"The house will let only the two of you in," Phillip said as Anthony nodded and looked over at Katie.

"One good-bye and I'll be ready to go," Katie said as she walked over to Tommy and gave him a hug.

"You'll be fine," Tommy said as she looked down at him and then shook her head.

"No, I'll make it. See you tomorrow Tommy," Katie said as she walked over to Anthony and the two of them exited the building. The other rangers knew what this union meant, they could just only hope that the two of them would be able to live with it all.

AN: All right, the wedding, as I promised. Honeymoon, however distorted it will be, will be the next chapter. Thanks for reading and drop a comment if you feel it necessary! Toodles!


	45. Conditions of the Mission

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"Your back still hurting?" Anthony asked as Katie looked over at him and squirmed again. Her back was still burning and she didn't know how Anthony couldn't be in pain, although the breeze his back was getting surely did help.

"It won't be so bad once I can get this off and get some air on it," Katie said, as Anthony looked over at her, in complete shock that she had even finished the sentence without blushing.

"You want to save this for later?" Anthony said as he motioned to the box and Katie nodded her head yes. She couldn't really take looking through that right away. She wanted to have a chance to get herself in an emotional state that was ready to take whatever was inside of it.

"I'm scared," Katie muttered as she looked at the front door of the house and then down at the ground. She really couldn't believe that this was happening. She had known it would when she agreed to the marriage, but reality was hitting her much harder than she ever imagined.

"I know and so am I," Anthony said as she looked away from him and tried to gather up her courage, but she was finding it hard to do.

"You don't understand, I've never..." Katie whispered as Anthony reached over and gave her a hug. He had thought that this would come up sometime, but he didn't know what he could do to comfort her. He had never done anything like this before either, but he was not sure how to convey everything to her.

"That doesn't bother me, I'd rather it be this way," Anthony said as Katie looked away from him. "Hey, it's all right to feel this way and you're not alone."

"But you're a guy," Katie said as Anthony looked down at her. Maybe on Earth guys were cocky, but he couldn't be that way when he was this worried and scared for someone else. He didn't know what this was going to do to her and he could only hope that she would be able to recover quickly.

"That doesn't mean anything. Kate, I'm just as worried as you are," Anthony said as Katie just shook her head that he couldn't be anywhere near as worried as she was. "You trust me?"

"Yes, but Andy this is something so different," Katie said as Anthony opened the door and led her inside. He really did not want them to get attacked again, because his senses were not fully functioning. He knew that this morning was something that they could overlook, but right now he needed to be as alert as possible, because the anondrones were becoming more aggressive.

"It's not, just trust and it's going to be fine," Anthony said as he gently kissed her and she then nodded her head. She knew what he meant and she knew that she couldn't forget the way he was being so gentle with her. He didn't have to be like this, he didn't have to care about what it was going to do to her, but he did.

(Later)

"Andy, wake up," Katie said as she gently shook his shoulder as the box that they had brought in was now smoking and had awoken her. It bothered her that she had been woken up by smoke, but it just freaked her out that it was coming from a box that was not on fire. "Andy...please."

"What is it?" Anthony mumbled as he rolled back and forth, trying to not wake up. Katie, however, did not answer and just continued to shake him. She wanted to make sure that the box didn't explode on them or something. "What's going on?"

"The box," Katie said as Anthony rolled over and looked at her, as she had pulled half the sheet away from him and was sliding further back, while keeping herself covered.

"What about the...box?" Anthony said as he looked over at it and saw the smoke, which caused him to quickly hop out of bed and go grab the box and open it, which stopped the smoke. "I guess it wants us to look at everything."

"I guess so," Katie said as she wrapped the sheet around her and then got out of bed to follow him into the next room, which made her go through the sphoric glass again. "Ah."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot how it hurt you to walk through that," Anthony said, as he placed the box down and then walked over and picked her up. "You really want to look at it?"

"I think that it wants us to look at it and we need to go ahead and do that now before we get preoccupied with something else," Katie said as she settled back against him and closed her eyes.

"Yeah, I was hoping on getting to sleep some more," Anthony said as she smiled over at him and then reached for the box, to pull out the instructions.

"We will, but we have to take care of this first," Katie said as she dumped out the contents of the box onto the table and then slid down to the floor, so that she would be able to see it better.

"A map, that helps a lot," Anthony said as Katie laughed. She didn't know how he was finding the energy to be sarcastic about anything that was in front of them. All of this was serious, but at least he was optimistic about being able to achieve the task at hand.

"Well, it tells us how to get there," Katie said as she turned the map in different directions to see if she would be able to understand it better, but it made absolutely no sense. "I thought it would."

"I understand it, don't worry about it," Anthony said as Katie heaved a sigh of relief. She was beginning to think that all of her map reading skills had been left on Earth.

"That makes me feel a lot better," Katie said as Anthony picked up at piece of paper and his face suddenly shifted to a look of worry. "What's wrong?"

"This describes what is going to happen to us," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him. She just thought that they would make the journey, that would be enough in itself, but there was more. There had to be for him to be having this sort of reaction to a piece of paper. "I don't like this."

"Why? What's going to happen?" Katie asked, as the sheet slipped down and Anthony then covered her shoulder back up, as he was freezing right now and he didn't want for her to suddenly be exposed to the cold.

"Nothing until we actually get to Alegia. One of us will have to go on to get the power to destroy the anondrones and the other will become evil," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him. She could tell that becoming evil was something that he didn't like, but one of them was going to have to deal with it. They might as well get used to the idea and come up with a plan as to what they were going to do.

"So, we choose which one of us we want it to take. It's all that we can do," Katie said, simply, as Anthony looked over at her. He certainly did not want her to have to live with the regrets of being evil, forever no matter how short a time it was, but he knew he couldn't risk it. None of the rangers here that had ever gone evil had ever come back and he didn't think this was a wise time to try to come back.

"But what if it doesn't want to take that person?" Anthony asked as he looked over at her.

"We'll make it and I think it should be me," Katie said as Anthony's eyes widened. He was trying to figure out a way that neither of them would become evil, but that hadn't even crossed her mind. She just knew that one of them was going to have the make the sacrifice and it might as well be her.

"Why you?" Anthony asked as she looked over at him.

"I can tell that you don't want to be evil, not that I want to be, but there's something more with you than there is with me," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head. He wondered when he had become so transparent, but then he remembered that being married here meant that emotions and feelings were more freely exchanged.

"It's the history of rangers here. No ranger that has ever turned evil has ever been able to come back. I don't want to do that to you and everyone else," Anthony said as Katie nodded her head that she understood. She knew that the rangers from Earth could come back from being evil, but she understood not risking it if it had never been done before.

"I understand and I'll probably do less damage," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her. She had never seen an evil ranger before and he could tell her that she would do just as much damage. "You don't think so?"

"When you're evil it doesn't matter if you're smaller, you still can do damage, damage that you'll have to live with for the rest of your life," Anthony said as Katie looked up at him and then pulled on his hand to get him to join her on the floor.

"I'll be all right. It needs to be me," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her and then nodded.

He knew that the other rangers were going to hate him for this. They were going to hate him because he didn't try to talk her out of it; he didn't try to make her believe that it would be better off if he was evil. They both knew that it was not the truth and they just hoped that the rangers would be able to deal with it.

"But I don't want it to be you," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him, wondering if he would suggest someone else that could do it, because she didn't see any way around it. It had to be her at this point, if Anthony was not willing to let himself become evil.

"Well who else is it going to be? It has to be one of us; it might as well be me. I trust that whatever it is that you have to get, you'll get to quickly and get back out," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head, but that didn't worry him. What worried him was how were they going to get her back. He had never had to do that before and he was afraid to ask the Earth rangers how to do that, as they did not want to worry them. It was bad enough that they had an unexpected ranger, but now they were going to have one of their own turn evil.

"But how will we bring you back? It doesn't say that the spell will lift once we are outside of Alegia again," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him. "What if it continues to hold you?"

"You'll bring me back, I know you will," Katie said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and he nodded. He couldn't believe that she had this amount of faith in him, but she had to. They were now in everything that they did for the long haul. They had to have faith that the other would take care of them when they had to.

"What if I can't?" Anthony asked as Katie looked at him and he then looked at the floor.

"I know you can. I know that you will," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head and then gave her a kiss. "Now, what else is going to happen?"

"I'm not sure. All this talks about is one of us has to become evil in order for the other one to be able to get to the powers that will destroy the anondrones," Anthony said as he held the letter out in front of her so that she could read it herself.

"It's going to be all right; I trust you, I know I'll come back for you. You just have to trust me that you can do it, that you can find a way to bring me back," Katie said as Anthony silently nodded his head. "Kinda ruins your wedding day, doesn't it?"

"I guess worse things could happen," Anthony said with a smile as Katie leaned firmly against him and let her head rest on his shoulder.

"I'm sure that worse things could happen, but I don't want to really focus on plans today," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her. "Hey, I'm tired and sore; I need some more rest."

"Okay," Anthony said as he stood up and she slowly stood up and he then picked her up. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"In a little while, I know that you want some more sleep too," Katie said as he nodded his head yes. "Trust me, we're going to have plenty to do tomorrow."

AN: I know that it is short, but I hope that you have enjoyed it and let me know what you think! Toodles!


	46. More Become Suspicious

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

_Tommy's POV_

Every Power Ranger goes through their trials. I should have known that Katie was going to have her own when she became a ranger. I just didn't think this would be it; I thought it would be something more normal. My trials were being able to survive losses and even getting over turning evil and coming back. Marriage is something that had never crossed my mind and there is still a mission to some part of this planet to attend to. I don't know what else can happen and I don't even want to think about it.

"Hey," Kim said as she sat down next to him and looked over at his face. He was worried that things were going to go bad very soon and she just didn't know if he could take it. "It's going to be fine."

"Kim, fine would be if we were being attacked on Earth by some puddies. This is no where near that; I don't even know what this is near. I've never been to this place in the ranger world before and that's saying something," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement. This certainly was not something that they had ever been through before.

"Well, I'm sure that we'll all learn how to deal with what's happened here. We always do Tommy," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head. They didn't really have a choice except to learn how to deal and the faster they did that, the better.

"This is just a different type of thing to deal with. They have a plan for what they are going to do when they go back to Earth, but what if it doesn't work? What are we going to do then?" Tommy asked as Kim looked over at him. That was definitely something that they had to take into consideration, but didn't they all have to do that?

"It's not really any different than you and whatever story you have come up with. They'll handle it," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her.

He didn't have a clue what he was going to do to try to salvage his job, but he was going to have to try. He loved teaching more than anything and he knew that he had to try to make this work, because it was going to be hard to get a job if he didn't make it work. He was sure that other high schools would love to hear that he was fired because he missed excessive days without an excuse, but he couldn't throw this job away. This job had worse consequences if he was to decide to skip out a day.

"We'll find out if it will even work. I'm not too hopeful right now," Tommy said as he let out a sigh and looked through the wall, where he could see several of the other rangers milling around.

"Hey, you'll make it, I know you will," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. He could only hope that he would make it. At this point, he was sure that hoping was even too optimistic, but he had learned many years ago to never let go of hope.

_Reefside_

"Hayley…it's good to see you," Andie said as Hayley walked into the office and looked around. Hayley usually tried to avoid the school if at all possible, but she had to talk to some of her employees. She needed to go to Angel Grove for the afternoon and she just wanted to let them know that she'd be back in time to close up. They didn't need to worry about her anymore. They all knew about her short stay in the hospital, although none of them knew why she had gone. She didn't think that she needed to tell them about her pregnancy until Jason was here for good. "How have you been?"

"All right," Hayley said as she did not think that anyone wanted to really hear about how she had been these last few days. She missed Jason and she missed the others, but most of all, she was scared to death that they would never come back. She had never had to wait out a mission like this and it was honestly bothering her. Also, it didn't help that she was pregnant and worried about whether or not she would have a miscarriage after last weeks episode.

"How's Tommy?" Andie asked as Hayley looked over at her. She knew that the break up had not exactly been great, but they did seem to be on friendly terms or it seemed that Andie still cared.

"Sick as a dog," Hayley said as Andie just nodded her head.

She was surely becoming skeptical about Tommy being absent and not calling, but they had to just keep it as calm as they could, but running damage control was never fun. She had had to do it when Tommy couldn't get out of his suit, now she had to lie because he was in a different galaxy.

"Anything I can do?" Andie asked as Hayley shook her head no; the last thing they needed was someone else snooping around Tommy's house. Then they would discover that he really was not there and more questions would be asked, questions that they did not have the answer to.

"I need to see Kasi," Hayley said as Andie looked her up in the computer and then looked up at Hayley. "What?"

"She's in Tommy's classroom, I'm sure that you can find it," Andie said as she handed Hayley a visitor's pass and Hayley turned to go find the room.

"She know anything about Mr. Oliver?" Alison asked, as Andie shook her head no, although she could never be sure with Hayley. It always seemed like she had some sort of secret she was hiding. "I'm worried about Tommy, this isn't like him or at least I haven't seen him be like this in a long time."

"How long ago?" Andie asked as Alison thought back and then realized exactly how long ago it had been. There were really no similarities in Tommy's life as a teenager and now, so why was this suddenly occurring again?

"High school," Alison said as Andie looked over at her. She knew that Tommy had a lot going on in his life, but why would he be reverting back to his high school ways now? What had changed to make him do that? "I don't want to lose him. He's one of our best teachers."

"Neither do I," Andie said as Alison looked over at her, that statement could definitely be taken a couple of ways with Andie, "as a colleague. I know that he has something better in his life."

"You sure that he's sick?" Alison asked as Andie nodded her head yes. She had heard him when he was sick before and that certainly sounded like he was sick. "Well, we're just going to have to see what we can do to look out for him."

-------------

"What are you doing here?" Kasi asked as she walked out into the hall, relieved to get away from their substitute. She was supposed to be Dr. Oliver's replacement, but as he was sick, they doubted he would be replaced, which made the substitute even more sore at them. She wanted his job badly.

"I have to go to Angel Grove; I've got some college students working for the day, but go on in, I'll be back before closing time. I just didn't want you to worry," Hayley said as Kasi looked over at her, something was going on.

"What's going on?" Kasi asked as Hayley looked over at her.

"I need to go see someone and I need to get it out of the way before this week really gets in full swing," Hayley said as Kasi looked over at Hayley and just shrugged her shoulders. It looked like she was not going to tell her who or why, but they didn't mean that she wouldn't find out. She was just going to have to do some searching.

"What was that for?" Angelina asked as Kasi sat down next to her. They had quit listening to the teacher about five minutes into class and were just trying to stay quiet enough that they would not get in trouble.

"She's going to Angel Grove, but she didn't say why," Kasi said as Angelina turned in her desk and looked back at Garrett. Hayley never went to Angel Grove unless Dr. O dragged her there, so why was she willingly going there now, when he was mysteriously absent from school? "It's funny, I have the feeling that something is going on that Hayley's not telling us about."

"What about when she went to the hospital?" Garrett asked, as he was sure that something would come out about that, but nothing had so far, but he just knew that everything that was going on linked back to the first time Dr. O was absent. They just had to figure out the missing pieces, but that was easier said than done.

"She just said that she let herself get too stretched with the things going on in her life and it got to her. We've all seen her lately and you have to admit that she is stressed," Kasi said as Angelina bent over to where only Garrett and Kasi could hear her.

"I think that we need to talk at recess, away from everyone else," Angelina said as they both nodded their heads. They knew that if she was talking like this, she had some sort of idea. She just didn't want for the idea to get out too quickly, especially since it did have to do with Dr. Oliver.

"Gym?" Garrett asked as Angelina nodded her head yes and then sat back up as the teacher turned back around. They didn't need a reason to be held in for recess when she had had a brain wave.

--------------

"Thanks, Andie," Hayley said as she handed her the visitor's pass and then turned to leave the office.

"Hayley, I have a question," Andie said as Hayley turned back towards her and nodded her head that she could ask. She didn't want to be rude, but she was in a hurry to get to Angel Grove because the longer she had there, the better it would be for her. "What happened to you last week?"

"I had a spell. I'm fine now," Hayley said as Andie gave her a skeptical look.

"The truth, Hayley. I've know you long enough to know that's not it," Andie said as Hayley looked around the office to see if anyone else was listening.

"I'm pregnant," Hayley said as Andie looked up at her, in shock. Who had she been dating long enough for her to have sex with him? "Jason…Tommy's best friend from Angel Grove."

"Well, congratulations and I'll keep my lips sealed," Andie said as Hayley gave her a thankful nod and then left the office. "I never expected that one."

"Neither did I," Principal Wingard said as Andie looked over at him. "Don't worry, I won't tell. It's not like she's a teenager; she knows what she is getting herself into. Have you heard from Dr. Oliver today?"

"No, but Hayley said that he's still sick and he probably talks to her more now," Andie said as Principal Wingard nodded his head and then pulled down the blinds and locked the door to the office.

"I don't want to fire Dr. Oliver, but I don't know how much longer the parents will be able satisfied with their children getting a poor excuse of a science education," Principal Wingard said as Alison walked out of her office.

"We haven't gotten any phone calls and I'm sure that would be the first sign of discontent among the parents. The substitute is doing her job and Tommy will do his job when he is up to it again," Alison said as Principal Wingard nodded his head in agreement.

"But how long do we wait on Dr. Oliver? And what about his sister? She's a smart kid and I know that she has been doing great in her classes, but she's missed fifteen days so far this semester and we're only in the sixth week of school," Principal Wingard said as Alison sat down in a chair and Andie looked between the two of them.

"I'm sure that Katie is taking care of Tommy and that's the only reason she hasn't made it and who knows, she may be sick now. She's good for making up the work and she's had a tough year," Andie said as Principal Wingard nodded his head in agreement.

"There's just something about this that does not sit well with me," Principal Wingard said as Alison and Andie exchanged a glance. "What could be keeping them ill for so long? And why hasn't one of them come back? Andie, why don't you go over to Dr. Oliver's house, see if they need anything."

"Hayley said that he was fine, except for being sick. I don't really think that Tommy would like for me to just show up at his house," Andie said as Principal Wingard gave her a long look and she then grabbed her keys. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

(Recess)

"Okay, so why are we meeting here, Lina?" Garrett asked as Angelina looked over at him. He knew exactly why they were meeting here. "What idea do you have?"

"Everything with Dr. O goes back to his first absence this year. What happened then to make him not be around as much? We all know that the dojo was broken into, but what if it wasn't a break in, what if it was something more?" Angelina asked as Garrett and Kasi looked over at her, completely confused. "What if they were looking for something specific, something that they couldn't find?"

"Like what? Dr. O isn't in trouble with the law, we all know that and I can't imagine that he would be interested in hanging out with drug dealers. They're probably scared of him to be honest," Kasi said as they sat down in the bleachers.

"Not that, we all know his home was destroyed once before, what if that happened again, but he didn't tell anyone," Angelina said as Garrett and Kasi looked at each other and then back at Angelina. "What if this whole time it's been Dr. O that they're after, not his things."

"Come on, who would want to come after Dr. O?" Kasi asked as Angelina and Garrett now exchanged a glance. "He's just a normal guy."

"I think you need to go back and put together all the information that we've got so far," Garrett said as Angelina nodded.

"Okay, a few weeks ago when those weirdoes started showing back up, I got to thinking. Reefside never had anything weird happen to it until Dr. O came here, right after he was the sole survivor of an island being blown to smithereens. Before he came here, he lived in Angel Grove, the home of the Power Rangers and I'll almost bet anything that his move here has something to do with ranger activity that we've suddenly seen," Angelina said as Kasi just looked at her, thinking she was absolutely crazy.

"Dr. O? A Power Ranger? Come on, you've go to be kidding me. There's no way that is going on right now," Kasi said as Garrett shook his head no.

"We're not, didn't you notice how he mysteriously disappeared whenever there was a battle?" Garrett asked as they saw the realization dawn in her eyes. "The thing is, it's our secret, until we can talk to Dr. O."

"Talk to him? Don't you think that he might just go off the deep end on us?" Kasi asked as Garrett shrugged. It was just a chance they were going to have to take.

"Well, wouldn't you rather know the truth about why he's been gone?" Angelina asked, as Kasi shook her head no. She was perfectly fine with thinking that Dr. O just had some illness, she didn't need to know anything else. "Come on, don't you at least agree it's weird."

"Yeah, I agree it's weird, but I don't think Dr. O could be a ranger; it's crazy," Kasi said as Garrett and Angelina both sighed. They had thought that she would come around when they shoved the information in her face. "Look, Dr. O is sick, let's just leave it at that."

"Well, there goes our help," Garrett said as Kasi stalked out of the gym. "I thought she would see it our way when we told her everything."

"We're just going to have to go do some more research. I really doubt that Dr. O is home," Angelina said as Garrett nodded his head in agreement and then looked over towards the doors. They had better get out of here before some teacher came wandering through and gave them detention.

(Dr. Oliver's Home)

'This is stupid,' Andie thought as she pulled into Tommy's driveway and saw both vehicles parked in their normal positions. The lights were all off and she imagined that they were upstairs asleep, but she might as well look around. There might be something outside that would give her the tiniest clue in the world.

"Ah!" Zack yelled as he found himself standing outside of Tommy's house and he quickly adjusted to his new setting. Why in the world was he here? What was going on?

"Who are you?" Andie asked as she swung around and saw a familiar face standing there, which made her face break into a smile. "Zack, what are you doing here and how did you get here?"

"Just dropped in, me and Aisha came up and she went to go get some groceries for them. They haven't been able to get out lately," Zack said as Andie nodded her head. "I needed some fresh air."

"So, he's still sick?" Andie asked as Zack nodded his head yes. He knew that he did not need to say anything about where Tommy truly was and he now understood why he was here. He was keeping Andie from finding out the truth. "Can I see him?"

"He's sleeping and I don't think that you want to wake him," Zack said as Andie nodded her head in agreement. She had done that a couple of times after his parent's death and it was not a pleasant experience. "But I'll tell him that you stopped by."

"Thanks and tell him to call the school if he feels up to it, Principal Wingard wants to talk to him," Andie said as Zack nodded his head that he would pass along the message and Andie then climbed back into her car and went back down the driveway.

"That was way too close," Zack said as he looked back at the house. They had to get home soon, the people that knew them the best were becoming suspicious and he didn't know how much longer they would be able to hold them off.

AN: Nope, no mission in this one, I had to do some interaction with people on Earth. The mission, however, is on the way. I hope that you'll enjoy it and let me know what you think! Toodles!


	47. Just Another Mission

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

_Katie's POV_

Yesterday, I was married and today I begin an adventure of unknown proportions. It's amazing how things can change so much in a short amount of time. I thought that I would live happily ever after when I was adopted by the Oliver's, then they die. I thought that when I went to live with Tommy that I'd be able to settle into a normal life; then I become a Power Ranger. I thought that I would just be a regular ranger; then I am the first to be married to someone from another planet. My life is full of unknown twists and turns, I guess some of the details of the mission are just more of those things that I should learn to live with.

The thing is, I don't know how the others are going to react when they hear what has to be done. I am going to Alegia and am going to willingly volunteer myself to become evil. I can imagine them saying that evil will choose who it wants to take, but a willing volunteer should be taken, by my thinking. Isn't someone that is willing, better than someone who will resist the entire process? I may be wrong about it, but I think it will work, I just have to make it. And I also know that I will come back, I have something to come back to.

A few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to say that. A few months ago, I would have been happy to turn evil if it would numb me of the pain that I was going through. I now know that nothing will numb what I have been through and what I have felt but time. Time, however, is slow and some times unreliable. One day it feels fast, the next slow, but it is all the same. All I have to do is hold out for a time, a season, and then Andy will get me. He will save me from myself, because he promised to do that and he won't take back that promise.

"Morning," Katie said as Anthony slowly opened his eyes and smiled over at her.

"You sleep good?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head yes, but he could see something in her eyes that told more of the story. "You scared?"

"A little, but what's to be expected? I'm allowing myself to become evil; it's not something that normally happens as a ranger," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head in agreement, then looked over at the clock. They had to leave as soon as they could because the anondrones would surely detect that things were changing on Eltar and they did not need them to sense it before they could get further in.

"I know," Anthony said as Katie sat up and shed the sheet to go put on her clothes, which still consisted of the nude colored clothing.

"You'll bring me back. I trust you enough to know that you'll bring me back," Katie said as Anthony watched her put on her clothing and then reached to put on his own.

"What if I can't? Katie, you have to face that possibility," Anthony said as Katie walked back over to him and sat down next to him on the bed.

"I know you will; I can't face the possibility of not coming back to you. I don't know if I could lose someone else; so I know you'll bring me back," Katie said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and then wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm glad you trust me this much," Anthony said as he settled his arms around her and Katie looked up at him.

"Trust in yourself, Andy. You've got to or this is going to be much harder than you can ever imagine," Katie said as Anthony nodded his head. "Come on, we need to get to the others."

"All right," Anthony said as Katie let go of him and stood to leave the room.

--------------

"Wake up," Kim said as she gently shook Tommy's shoulder and he slowly opened his eyes and smiled up at her. "Come on, Katie and Anthony are back. We've got some work to do."

"I didn't think they'd be back until much later," Tommy murmured as Kim nodded her head in agreement. She had thought that it would be much longer too, but it was obvious that something had changed their plans. They had to leave this place as soon as humanly possible.

"We have to leave, so pack up what you can," Kim said as Tommy now sat upright and looked over at Kim. She must be kidding him about the fact that they were going to leave in the next few hours.

"How soon?" Tommy asked as Kim looked over at him, knowing he would not like the answer.

"As soon as we're all ready. They both seem determined about it and I don't think it would be very smart to keep them waiting," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head and then walked over to grab his backpack. He hadn't taken the time to unpack and now he was glad that he could just go.

"I'm ready," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. She had expected him to take a little bit longer to get ready. "Hey, I'm just as ready to get home as you are."

"About home, Tommy," Kim said as he looked over at her, wondering what she was talking about. "I don't want to live...I want...I want you."

"Kim, I already knew that," Tommy joked as Kim glared up at him and he then placed his arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'm joking Kim, I want you with me too."

"How do you think everyone is going to take that?" Kim asked as Tommy looked at the ceiling and then over at Kim.

"After everything that we've been through this week, I think they can take us moving in together. They can say whatever they want about it being too soon, but it's what we both need right now," Tommy said as Kim smiled up at him and then gave him a hug.

"Um, Tommy, Kim, we need to get going," Katie said as she walked up behind them and the two of them leapt apart. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty more time for that later."

"You're one to talk," Tommy said as Katie glared up at him and Anthony just grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

"Save your energy for something productive," Anthony said as Katie looked over at him and then smiled. "Okay, we have a map that will help us get to Alegia, but there are no guarantees that there will not be some trials along the way."

"We can take this," Jason said as Katie and Anthony exchanged a glance before turning to walk outside.

"What was that look for?" Conner asked as Tommy could only shrug his shoulders. Tommy had noticed the look too, but he did not want to read into it. He was afraid of what he would find there.

"It's not for us to worry about," Keema said as Conner nodded and the two of them jogged off after Katie and Anthony. "Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah," Tommy said hastily as they had to run to catch up with them.

"It shouldn't take us long to get through the first two levels, after that, I am not sure what we will face," Anthony said as he studied the map and Katie looked over at him. She trusted that he was not going to let anything happen to her, but things could happen even if he tried to stop it. They both just hoped that nothing would go seriously wrong.

"Why aren't you sure?" Katie asked as he looked at the map again.

"I haven't been to these particular regions before. I don't know if they will side with us or not," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him. What was going on here? What were they hiding?

"What do you mean you don't know if they'll side with us?" Tommy asked as Anthony looked over at Win, who had lived in one of those regions.

"Some are not particularly fond of the rangers, because the ones that have been chosen from those regions have a tendency of being killed," Win said as they looked over at him. "It's been years, but they have a long memory. My parents almost didn't allow me to become a ranger."

"So, we're really on our own," Kim said as she just shook her head. She had been under a similar situation before, but never when there were five other rangers to help them.

"Yeah, but I'm sure that some of you have been there before and know what it's like," Alexa said as Kim and Tommy nodded their heads. They had certainly been here before, but they did not like to really think back on it.

"Come on, down the hill, then straight to the next level," Anthony said as they started down the hill and Katie then fell to her knees. "Kate..."

"I'm hurting," Katie said as she grabbed her side and let out a weak groan.

"What's going on?" Win asked, as Alexa looked at the trees they were standing between and then dragged Katie out from between them.

"The configuration of the trees, when they shifted, they pegged her position and then sent a pulse through her. They do it to everyone, but it affects people that are not from this planet more," Alexa explained as they looked up at her and Anthony merely knelt down beside Katie.

"So why aren't the rest of us affected?" Kim asked as she had been standing next to Katie at the time and she felt nothing.

"It didn't peg you and I doubt it even recognized any of you. She's the only one that now that has Eltarian blood running through her veins and it notices that is unnatural," Alexa said as Anthony ran his finger through his hair and then let out a long sigh. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

"I only thought things were going to happen when we got to Alegia," Katie muttered as Anthony nodded his head. They all knew that they were going to the region, but what did they know about it that the rest of them didn't?

"I know, but it seems that it's just going to be rough," Anthony said as Katie nodded and then stood back up.

"This sucks," Katie said as Tommy and Kim couldn't help but smile at her choice of words.

"You can say that again," Anthony said as he placed his arm around her waist and they continued to walk until they came to a log that covered the expanse between the two sides of the rivers valley. "Straight through?"

"Yeah, it should let us go straight to the next level," Alexa said as she jumped in and disappeared.

"Hell no. I'm not going in," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her and then watched Keema jump in. "Where are they going?"

"Straight through to the next level, go on Kate," Anthony said as she looked over at him and then back at her fellow rangers. Tommy, Kim, and Jason looked slightly apprehensive, but Conner just seemed downright worried about doing this. "I promise, you'll go straight through."

"Okay," Katie said as she looked at Anthony as if he was crazy then jumped off the log herself.

"Katie!" Tommy yelled as she disappeared and he did not see how that could happen.

"She's fine. She's just on the other side of the water," Anthony said as Win and Daniel nodded.

"Bring her back," Tommy said as he was not going anywhere near the water if they were truly disappearing once they went into it.

"Okay," Anthony said as he jumped down and landed in the next level. "Kate, they want you to come back up."

"They don't believe you?" Katie asked as Anthony nodded his head and she grabbed his hand and nodded that she would go back up. "I'm fine, Tommy. Come on."

"How can we be so sure?" Tommy asked as Katie glared up at him, she was now soaked to the bone and that pissed her off.

"I'm now soaked Tommy and I wasn't a few seconds ago. It takes you straight through, you don't even touch the water, so get your ass down here!" Katie yelled as Anthony looked away from her, expecting the rangers to go off the deep end.

"Fine," Tommy said as he grabbed Kim's hand and the two of them jumped in.

"Clear the way, I'm coming through!" Conner yelled as Katie's face broke into a broad grin.

"Catch you on the flip side," Katie said as Anthony threw her out of the water, so that she would be able to easily go back through.

"Everyone here?" Anthony asked as he came through the tunnel and shook out his hair, before Tommy passed him a towel that he had stored in his book bag.

"Yeah, do you two need to dry off?" Tommy asked as Katie just shook out her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail.

"We'll be fine," Anthony said as he passed the towel over to Katie and she ran it over her hair a few times then handed it back to Tommy. "We don't need to stay too long in one place."

"What else is going on here?" Conner asked, as he had been watching Katie and she seemed just a little bit apprehensive, not that that wasn't expected. It was just the way that she was apprehensive that got to him.

"We don't want to be attacked by the anondrones if we can help it," Anthony said as Tommy looked over at him. He didn't exactly believe that either.

"Well, none of us want to be attacked by anondrones, but that doesn't explain why you are in such a hurry," Daniel said as Anthony glared over at him as they walked down a path, which caused Katie to suddenly stop.

"Ah...it's starting," Katie said as she looked over at Anthony and her eyes flashed pink, which caused him to take in a shaky breath. He had thought that she would start turning evil when they came much closer Alegia, now it looked like they were going to have to fight just to get her there.

"You still with me, though?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head yes and looked around at the other rangers. "Come on, let's keep going, the further we can go the better it'll be."

"Her eyes," Kim muttered as she looked between Tommy and Jason, they had both seen or been the person that had had their eyes do that.

"Shit," Tommy said as he watched Anthony keep Katie moving towards their goal. He could tell that she was going to start struggling soon, but they had to get her to Alegia as well. That was the only way they would be able to get the powers or at least that was what they thought. "I can't believe it."

"You can't believe it? Tommy, we need to know how good she is," Jason said as Tommy looked over at them and then shook his head. "Damn."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Tommy said as he jogged over to Katie's side and noticed that she had closed her eyes and was clutching Anthony's hand. It was obvious to him that she was trying to fight, but it was not an easy thing to do. "Kate..."

"Stay away, Tommy," Katie murmured as Anthony looked down at the map and then saw a tunnel. This should take them to Win's region, but Win had an odd look on his face.

"We're much closer than you think. This tunnel shall take all of us straight through to Alegia," Win said as he looked down at the map and then over at Anthony who could only nod his head as Katie's eyes flashed pink again and she bowed up in Anthony's arms.

"Hurry," Katie managed to say as the rangers looked at each other before she let out a loud cry.

"The tunnel is long. I don't know how long it will take," Alexa said as she studied the map and Katie then slapped Anthony on the side of his face.

"Andy, I've been here, let's go," Tommy said as they all looked at him. What did he mean by he had been here? Although they would have loved to have asked him about it, he was not giving them the chance as he grabbed Katie's hand and then sprinted off down the tunnel. All they could do was follow and hope that everything would be fine.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and we'll truly explore evil in the next chapter. Let me know what you think and toodles!


	48. Another Evil Oliver

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy), Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"What in the world does Tommy mean?" Kim asked as she ran after him. She knew there was no way that she would catch up with him, but she wanted to keep him in her sights. She did not think that getting lost was a good idea, especially while they were on some sort of mission. She doubted that they would not meet some sort of obstacle and if that happened, then they were going to have to really look at what was going on, because this would be unlike any other mission they had been on. "Tommy! What's going on!"

"Dream...explain later!" Tommy yelled back as he tugged Katie along and Anthony soon caught up with them. He had a lot to do with why she was here and why this was happening. He, at least, needed to help Tommy with whatever plan he had. It was obvious that he had figured out that she was turning evil, but how he knew what to do, was beyond him. "We have to get her into the region before it completely takes her over, otherwise we won't be able to get whatever it is to destroy the anondrones. She'll be able to fight us and there's no way we'll win without hurting her."

"Let me go..." Katie muttered darkly as she began to glow an eerie shad of pink and Tommy sped up even more as Anthony also began dragging her along the pathway.

"How could you tell?" Anthony asked as Tommy looked over at him. He was not the greatest ranger that the Earth had ever had for nothing. He could recognize things that no one else would come anywhere close to noticing, but after all these years as a ranger, this was expected. Spotting a ranger going evil was almost second nature for him now, he just hated that it was his sister.

"I've been there myself. I know what it's like to be evil and I've seen enough of my fellow rangers' go there to see when it's coming. The only problem is, you can't stop it from happening," Tommy said as Katie finally dug her heels into the ground, which caused the two of them to slow. They had no choice left but to pick her up and run. They could only hope that they would get there before she was completely in its grips. "How much further?"

"According to the map, only about 100 yards," Anthony said as Katie hit Tommy and he glared over at her. He did not feel sorry for someone that became evil. He knew what it took to get them back and it often was only after a great loss had been sustained. He did not want for Katie to have to live with the regret that he had to live with from his time as an evil ranger.

"We better hurry," Tommy said as Katie continued to struggle in their arms and they could see the exit of the tunnel and Tommy then tossed Katie through the opening, where she jumped up to face him. He just hoped that they had got her far enough in for her to want to stay. "Go, now."

"But how are you going to keep her here?" Anthony asked, as Tommy looked over at him, shocked that that came to his mind. He really needed to rethink what he was asking. What he should have been asking was how were they going to keep her from coming after him. He was sure that Katie could take Anthony on if she decided to at the moment and it would make sense if she didn't want him to get the weapon or whatever it was.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way," Kim said as Katie took down her hair and then smiled over at the rangers. They were in for one hell of a fight. Every evil ranger that they had ever faced had beat them badly, they just hoped they could hold her off long enough to give Anthony a chance. "Go."

"All right, I'll be back as soon as I can," Anthony said as he ran off and Katie watched him go before she looked over at Tommy.

"Pink Tinnean Ranger, Power Up!" Katie yelled as she morphed and then popped her neck as she looked around at the rangers. "This feels good."

"Don't hurt her, but keep her here. We can't let her follow him," Tommy muttered as the others nodded, before morphing. Katie however was having none of that as she sprinted away after Anthony.

"Oh, no you don't. You're not going to get away from us that easily," Jason said as he grasped Katie by the shoulder and pulled her back over to the other rangers. She was not going anywhere; she was going to stay there and fight them. Anthony had to have the chance to make it to the powers without her hindering him.

"You think you'll hold me?" Katie asked as she viciously kicked Jason and he fell to the ground. He had experienced this once before from an Oliver and he had never thought he would experience it again. He was wrong in that assumption, but he would have never thought this would happen. He had thought that they were honestly done with their job until a few weeks ago. "Nice try rangers."

"Can you go there?" Kim asked as she looked over at Tommy. He knew what she was asking from him, but he did not really want to connect with his evil self. It was far too scary to go back to that place and he knew if he went back, that they might not be able to pull him out of it.

"I don't know if I should," Tommy said as Katie slammed the two of them together and Tommy looked down at Kim, knowing what he was about to ask. "Can you?"

"Yeah, I can," Kim said as she walked over to the side and Tommy gave her a glance before he ducked to avoid one of Katie's kicks.

"Kate..." Tommy said as she walked closer to him and then nailed him one time, which sent him into a nearby tree. When had she become so strong?

"The nice Katie's gone, Tommy. You might as well get used to this," Katie said as she squatted down in front of him and he knew that she had a wicked smile behind her helmet. He had been there so many times himself and he just knew that there was a way to reach her, he just couldn't get there yet, or maybe he wasn't the one that was going to reach her.

"I'm back," Kim sang as Tommy looked up at her and Katie slowly turned to look back at the black ranger, who was wearing a smirk of her own. She was connected as she could be with her evil side and she only hoped that Katie would take on the challenge and allow the other rangers a chance to formulate a plan.

"Only one of us can be evil," Katie said as she looked over at Kim and then sent a pulse towards her, which sent her flying.

"Good girl. Keep her focused on staying and fighting us," Tommy muttered as Jason ran over to his side.

"We don't need both of them to be evil. There's no guarantee we'll get even one of them back," Jason said as Tommy shook his head and then ducked before Kim was sent sailing over his head.

"She's tough," Kim said as Tommy stood to face her. It was time that she met the green ranger's fury.

"I haven't had to do this in a long time," Tommy said as Kim and Jason looked at him.

"Tommy, no," Kim said as Tommy looked back at her as Katie threw Keema and Daniel into a cavern and they heard the two of them continue to tumble.

"I don't have a choice, she won't hurt me as bad," Tommy said as he walked over to Katie and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You've never seen my bad side."

"Try me, Doctor Oliver," Katie said as she took a defensive stance against Tommy and several of the others backed away to form a circle around them. They did not want for either of them to get carried away with it.

"I don't want to do this, Kate," Tommy said as Katie kicked at him, which he easily blocked and then threw her to the ground, "but you leave me no choice."

"You can always leave," Katie said, as she stood back up and headed towards Tommy again. He hated to have to fight her, but he had no choice. He did not want her to hurt anyone else here. He knew that Katie would be able to live with herself if she gave him some bruises and more importantly, he didn't have to worry about anyone else getting hurt.

"Crap," Tommy said as she cut him across the chest and he then looked up at her. He had never struck someone while they were not armed, but this was only the beginning of what she would do. She was just warming up and they all knew it. They just hoped that Anthony could get to whatever it was quickly and get back so that they could get her out of here.

"She's gone," Alexa said as Kim nodded her head and then looked around for something that they could use to restrain her, but everything seemed too weak. She knew the strength an evil ranger had and that strength would destroy most things that could be used for restraints easily.

"You thought that your little sister couldn't do this, didn't you?" Katie mocked as she gently rubbed her hand over the cut, just to aggravate it even more.

"Katie," Tommy grimaced as he gripped the cut and Kim then walked over to pull him away.

"You can't get hurt anymore; we'll fight, you rest," Kim said as Katie slashed her in the back, which caused her to fall into Tommy's arms and for him to glare over at Katie. She had just crossed the invisible line of what Tommy could take and they all knew it.

"You stay out of the way. I'll take care of it," Tommy said as he handed Kim to Jason and then looked down at his morpher. "White Tinnean Ranger, Power up."

"Let's go," Katie said with a smirk as Tommy just shook his head. Although he was hurting, he knew that he had to fight her. He seemed to be the only one that was willing to take her on.

"Zordon, we could really use some help here," Tommy muttered as Katie looked at him with a look that was clearly not evil. Had Anthony gotten the powers or was she just teasing them?

"Zordon?" Katie asked, as she looked over at Tommy and her voice suddenly softened. "Zordon."

"What's going on?" Keema asked as she and Daniel climbed back up from the cavern and saw that the fighting had stopped.

"No clue," Tommy said as he moved his hand in front of Katie's mask and she then snapped her head towards him. "Well, that didn't last very long."

"Defeating Zordon's rangers. That sounds good," Katie said as she slammed Tommy into a nearby tree and he slowly got back up. He was not able to take these blows the way he had been able to a couple of years ago, but he had been picked to be a ranger. There must be some reason that the powers did that, even with him being in his late twenties.

"Let's go," Conner said as he looked at Kim and Jason. The two of them nodded their heads as well. They knew it was time to morph and take her on as well.

"Hi-ya!" Katie yelled as she kicked Conner squarely in the chest and sent him flying past the Dycon rangers, into a grove of vegetation.

"Wow," Win muttered as he watched Conner stand up and go back towards her, which caused them to look at each other. "Didn't she just send him flying?"

"Yeah," Alexa said as Daniel caught Kim and she hurried back towards Katie.

"So why in the world are they still trying to fight her?" Daniel asked as Keema looked over at him. They didn't seem to have much of a choice about it. She was going to fight them, even if they didn't want to fight her.

"They don't have a choice," Keema said as she quietly morphed and looked at the others. "And neither do we, we need to help."

"What did you teach her?" Jason asked as he sailed past Tommy.

"Normal things for a karate class. I didn't know that I had a future evil ranger on my hands though. Otherwise I wouldn't have let her take karate," Tommy said as Kim sailed into him and he gripped his chest.

"I've got it," Anthony said as he ran back into the area where the rangers were and watched as Katie threw Daniel into the air. He had never imagined that she was anywhere near that strong, but odd things did happen when a ranger went to the other side. "Kate..."

"You can't bring me back, Andy," Katie whispered as he looked over at her. He did not need to hear that from her right now. He needed for her evil self to have some faith in him. "Ah!"

"Katie, I know I can," Anthony said as he walked towards her and watched her fall to the ground, where he knelt down next to her. "Come on, come back."

"I don't want you," Katie growled as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance. Katie was not going to like herself when this spell was broken. She was not going to like to remember all the things that she said that she didn't mean, but there was nothing else they could do about it. They couldn't stop her from making the mistakes that they had made, although they had desperately hoped she wouldn't.

"I don't care. I just want you back," Anthony said simply, as he reached for the clasps on Katie's helmet and she tried to pry away his hands. "I'm taking your helmet off, whether you like it or not."

"Don't touch me!" Katie yelled as Anthony tossed the helmet to the side.

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to," Anthony said as Jason looked at the ground. Yeah, that idealism was not going to last very long. Katie was going to start fighting him if he was right about how far gone she was.

"Leave me," Katie whispered wickedly as Anthony pulled off the helmet and looked into her eyes, which were still an eerie shade of pink. "Don't save me."

"I don't have a choice," Anthony pleaded as Katie tried to stand up and then fell to the ground.

"It's not going to let me go," Katie said as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance. Katie didn't sound evil anymore; she sounded defeated. "It's going to take me with it."

"No it won't, not if I can help it," Anthony said as Katie just shook her head weakly. "You don't want to be evil, I know you don't, let it take me. Don't fight it, Kate."

"You'll die if it takes you; I can't let that happen," Katie managed to get out as her eyes flicked up towards him and returned to their pink shade.

"Don't go," Anthony commanded, as her arms fell to her sides and she looked at him.

"Get me out of here," Katie said as Anthony looked up at Tommy and Jason for help. He had to carry the powers to vanquish the anondrones. There was no way that he could handle Katie as well. "It has to be you, no one else."

"Okay," Anthony said as he handed the powers over to Katie and then picked her up. They were all worried that she would take the powers and run, but she suddenly seemed too weak. Something else was going on here, something that they didn't expect to see happen. "Let's go."

"Hold on, Andy," Tommy said as he looked at Katie. He had seen that looked before; her powers were leaving her and they had to get her out of here before something did damage to her. "We gotta go, fast."

"All right," Anthony said as he began to trudge up the slope. He didn't think that he had the power left in him to run up it, but it seemed like that needed to be done. That was why he began jogging. He didn't want to lose the powers, but he didn't want to lose her either.

"I don't think she's gonna make it," Jason said to Kim as Kim nodded her head. She had never seen someone's powers leave like this before. Tommy, of course, had lost his powers, but he had never had it leave him this way and she wondered if this would happen to all of them.

"Yeah, but don't tell Tommy that," Kim said as they trudged up the hill behind Tommy, Anthony, and Katie. "I'm afraid it would push him over the edge."

"She'll make it," Keema said as Kim looked over at her. "We can teleport her out. Daniel go."

"Okay, chief," Daniel said as he ran to catch up with Anthony.

"Why can't you teleport in here?" Kim asked as they continued to trudge their way towards the surface as they watched Anthony, Katie, and Daniel disappear.

"Who knows, but I'm sure that you've had the same thing happen before," Alexa said as Tommy had grasped his communicator and teleported away as well. "Anyone else want to go?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Jason said as he silently pressed his communicator and they all disappeared to the center, not knowing what was waiting for them there.

AN: Well, I hope that you liked it and I'll have another one out soon. Tell me what you like and don't like. Toodles!


	49. Retreating of Evil

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy), Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"Ah!" Katie screamed as they landed in the center. Her powers were being ripped from her right now and they knew that they were going to have to fight to just keep her alive. When rangers lost their powers like this, it became a struggle for their life.

"Kate...it's all right. You're back, everything is going to be fine," Anthony said as she threw the weapon to the floor and then leapt out of his arms. She felt like her entire body was on fire and no matter what she did, it didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon.

"I don't think so," Katie managed to say as she fell to the ground and Tommy appeared in the center.

"Andy, listen to me," Tommy said as he walked over to the three of them and looked down at Katie. It was already too late to try to get her powers back, but it was not too late for them to be able to destroy the anondrones. That was what they had come here to do and they had to do it now. They couldn't wait any longer to do what they had to do; otherwise they would lose her and they wouldn't be able to defeat the anondrones. "You have to go set that up and let it do its job. We'll take care of her until you get back."

"But I promised," Anthony said as Tommy just looked over at him.

"I know, but if you don't break this promise, she'll die and the anondrones won't be gone. Go take care of what we came here for and we'll do what we can to keep her here with us," Tommy said as Anthony spared one more look at Katie before he sprinted out of the center. All he had to do was get the weapon up and running, after that, it would take care of the anondrones on its own.

"She'll die?" Daniel asked as he looked over at the older ranger, who was muttering curses with every breath. He knew that things were bad, he just didn't think that things were anywhere near this bad.

"I can't make any guarantees. I've been this close, I know what it's like, and she's in for one hell of a fight to get back to us. We're just going to have to see how the next few hours go," Tommy said as Katie rolled towards him and then rolled away. Her face was etched with pain and he had an idea of what she might be feeling and he wanted it to stop. "Who is the genius among you?"

"I don't know," Daniel said as Tommy groaned. There was no way for them to go back and get them without having to go on the path they had been on earlier today and they didn't have time for that. He also didn't have time to try to figure out who could help them.

"Come on, you have to have one," Tommy said as it was the most normal thing about any Power Ranger group. There was at least one person who could be considered a genius; it had to be in the rules somewhere because they had to make up for the lack of common sense that the others all had at times.

"Lexa, I guess," Daniel said as Tommy just shook his head. This was absolutely horrible and he knew they were miles away from him and that did them no good.

"Damn," Tommy said as he reached out and touched Katie's skin, which was surprisingly cool to the touch, although it was very blotchy. He thought that she would have a fever from the way she had reacted to any touch, but she didn't feel like she had a fever. What was going on? "We need to try to get her temperature, that'll tell us what we need to do first."

"What's happened?" Jason asked as they landed and saw Tommy, Daniel, and Katie, but no Anthony. Where had he gone? Why had he left her? It didn't make sense that he would abandon her so quickly.

"We don't have time to explain," Tommy said as he grabbed Alexa and pulled her towards Katie. "Take her temperature and anything else you think would be useful; I'm going to contact Billy. He should know something that will help us with her."

"I'll help with that," Win said as he doubted that Tommy knew how to use the communication devices here and he seemed to be frazzled enough as it was. They did not want to risk him destroying something and them not being able to get back home. That would surely piss Tommy off even more if they let it happen.

"This isn't good," Alexa said as she looked from the thermometer to Katie and back at it, sure that it had malfunctioned. She had never seen a reading this high before. "It's registering something that is impossible."

"Warm her up or cool her off, do whatever you have to do, just keep her alive until we can get some information on what could be causing this," Tommy said as Alexa looked over at Kim and Keema to help her. They had to get Katie hosed down at soon as they could. "Billy..."

"Yeah, what's going on?" Billy asked as he came on the screen and noticed that some of the rangers were missing, which didn't really worry him. He thought that Tommy was just communicating with him to let him know that they were ready to know home. "Have you achieved the goal?"

"In a way, Anthony is setting up the machine to destroy the anondrones that are trying to take over this planet, but we have a problem with Katie," Tommy said as Billy looked over at Zordon, who merely closed his eyes. He had been expecting to hear something like this, he had just hoped that he wouldn't have to hear it.

"How high is her fever Tommy?" Zordon asked, as Tommy looked back and saw that they had already left.

"It was close to one-o-nine," Win said as he looked at the thermometer and Tommy's eyes widened. That was definitely close to a range that could kill if it stayed up there too long, but he didn't want to focus on that. He had to focus on whatever Zordon had to say to them.

"What do we do Zordon?" Jason asked as Tommy stood there in complete shock.

"I'm sure that they are already soaking her down, but you've got to manage to get some water in her, because her core is even hotter. I imagine she would say she feels like she is on fire, if she was conscious," Zordon said as Billy looked over at Zordon.

"An ice bath would also help," Billy said, as he was surprised that Zordon had not mentioned that. That seemed like it would be the most logical thing to cool her down quickly.

"Not there, not with what is going on. Katie's powers have been ripped from her by an evil source. The only way that it will come back is once the anondrones are gone; they protected the one weapon that could destroy them. They never thought that someone would become evil to get it, they met their match and they'll try to kill their match while they are still around," Zordon said, as calmly as ever as Tommy's eyes flashed a sudden shade of green and Jason held onto Tommy's shoulder. Things were beginning to click for all of them and he knew that Tommy was enraged right now.

"You knew this was going to happen?" Tommy roared as Win and Daniel backed away from him and Conner just walked outside. He did not want to hear that Zordon knew it all; he couldn't deal with that sort of news right now. It was enough that they might lose Katie, he didn't know if he could really take that Zordon had known what was going to happen her. "And you sent her anyway?"

"She should recover Tommy, as soon as the anondrones are gone, everything will go back to normal. She'll get her powers back and she'll be completely normal. The fever will have no lasting effects," Zordon said as Anthony trudged back in and looked at the other rangers.

"What's wrong?" Win asked as Anthony turned over his hands, which were obviously burnt, but they would be able to easily cure him. Their powers would work on him, while they did not work on Katie. "How did that happen?"

"I activated it and the anondrones have been falling the entire way back here, but my hands just started burning for no reason," Anthony said as he looked over at Tommy, who was pacing in front of the screen. "What's with him?"

"I can't believe you did this!" Tommy roared as Jason let go of him; it was not like Tommy was standing right next to Zordon, they were a galaxy or three apart from him. It was safe to let him rant as much as he wanted to here, hopefully he would be calm when he got back to Earth and he wouldn't attack Zordon. They did not want for that to happen, because Tommy would regret it when he was thinking clearly again. "We trust you!"

"Tommy, there have always been risks as a ranger, you know that. This is just another risk," Zordon said as Kim walked back in, completely soaked and just looked at Tommy.

"She's cooled off some, but I don't think we're going to get her back. She's too far gone, Tommy," Kim said, bleakly, as Anthony just began shaking his head.

"She's not going to die," Anthony said as they all looked over at him. As much as they wanted to be able to tell him that everything would be fine, none of them were sure about it. None of them were sure that she would make it through this high of a fever and everything else that was going on with her body.

"Alexa is doing everything that she can, but it doesn't look good," Kim said as she looked up at Tommy, who was clearly struggling against something. "Tommy?"

"Zordon knew," Tommy said in a hollow voice as Kim looked up at the screen to Zordon and Billy. Tommy had to be joking that Zordon had known what was going to happen and that he had sent her anyway. He had never deliberately put the rangers in this type of danger. "He knew what would happen."

"Tommy, I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know that she would do it, I didn't know that she would be willing to accept the prophecy. I only knew that she was the only chance for Eltar and I sent all of you. It could have easily been any of you," Zordon said as Tommy threw the first thing he could find at the screen.

"What happens if she dies? It wasn't her job to protect this planet, it was mine, ours. We came because we thought we had found a way to help our planet. I didn't come to kill some one," Anthony yelled as Tommy looked at him. He couldn't have said that any better himself and if Anthony was on a roll, he was all for letting him continue.

"You did find a way, you found her. She is the one that has helped your planet; you found her, not me. I couldn't do anything to help Eltar, but she could. You did not detect my powers, you detected hers, the one person that could help you," Zordon said as Anthony could only stare. He had never thought that Zordon would be able to slap him back in the face for what he had said.

"And now she's going to die because of me," Anthony said weakly as he sat down on the console to try to piece together what was going on. "She's going to die because I brought her here."

"Don't be so sure she's going to die just yet," Billy said as he had been frantically doing scans while Tommy and Anthony had been yelling at Zordon. "You just need to get some medicine in her. It'll keep her alive until the anondrones are gone and then she'll come back."

"What type of medicine?" Tommy asked as Billy looked over at Anthony.

"Whatever it is you use for fevers there. It will be more than sufficient to keep her fever in a manageable range until the anondrones are completely destroyed," Billy said as Keema walked back in and looked up at Anthony. Why did he have to be the one asking them to do this for her?

"How long are we going to try to do this? Lexa is struggling back there," Keema said as Anthony glared down at her and then walked over to snatch up the fever medicine and stalk to the back room.

"I'm not giving up on her," Anthony muttered through clenched teeth as he walked by Keema and she looked up at him. She had never seen Anthony be this aggravated with her, but there was a first time for everything.

"Why do you care?" Keema yelled as Anthony turned around to look at Keema. Two days ago she would not have asked that question, two days ago she seemed to be fine with the idea of them getting married. Hell, she was the one that ended their relationship not him. So why was she acting like this right now, when he didn't have the time to argue his point. When he didn't have the time to give a damn about who he had upset over the last few weeks. "Why do you care so much, Tony?"

"I don't have time to fight about this now, I have to save my wife," Anthony said as he turned and walked out of the room, as Keema glared at him.

"His wife," Keema said bitterly as Tommy looked over at her.

"Don't talk about her like she stole him away; you agreed to it, just like Conner," Tommy said as Keema looked over at him and Win walked over and pulled her across the room.

"Listen, Keema, no matter how mad you are at Anthony right now, you don't have any right to take it out on his wife. If she dies, he'll never be the same. He's got to try to do whatever he can to help her," Win muttered as Keema glared up at him and the exited the same door Conner had only a few minutes before. "Well, that could have gone better."

"She has a right to be bitter," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "Don't worry, she may or may not come around, but she knows that you are right about some of it, otherwise she would still be standing here with us ranting and raving."

-------------------------

"Here you go," Anthony said as he handed Alexa the medicine and looked away from Katie.

"She's cooled down some, but not nearly enough for her to wake back up. I don't know what could be causing it," Alexa said as Anthony sat down next to Alexa, who was continuously pouring water over Katie to keep her as cool as possible.

"She has had her powers ripped from her and it will not stop until the last anondrone is gone," Anthony said as Alexa looked over at him. That could take days to happen and they didn't have days to struggle with a temperature this out of control.

"Tony, I don't know how long we'll be able to hold onto her. I don't know if it is going to be possible," Alexa said as Anthony nodded his head. He knew that was coming, but he just didn't want to have to face it.

"You can leave me with her, just keep the water on her and give her this how often?" Anthony asked as Alexa looked over at him. She really didn't mind helping; it actually made sense for her to stay here. She had the most experience with these situations, why wouldn't he want her help?

"I'll stay, it doesn't bother me at all," Alexa said as Anthony looked over at her. He needed some time alone. "How about I just give you a little while?"

"Thanks," Anthony said as Alexa stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Anthony alone with Katie. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what was going to happen to you; I didn't know that when we saw the power it meant you, not Zordon. I always thought that we would find someone like Zordon to help, not you, the one I love. I guess I shouldn't hope that you'll answer me back. I don't want anything to happen to you. I didn't want this to happen to you, but I couldn't stop it."

"Um," Katie moaned as she tried to get out from under the water.

"I gotta keep you cool," Anthony said as her eyes flickered open and she sat up.

"I'm freezing right now, Andy," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her. He had thought that she was going to be out much longer. He was sure that the anondrones had not disappeared by now. "I don't think I'm going to be with you very long. I just kinda got a break. What were you talking about?"

"Why you are really here," Anthony said as Katie just looked over at him and couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm here because I was meant to come, you should have figure that out by now," Katie said with a smile as he looked over at her with a sad look. She didn't know exactly how true that statement was. "What? What did I say?"

"We didn't find Zordon when we came to Earth, we found you. I didn't know that you were the one we were looking for, I thought Zordon was it. I brought you here and I put you in danger; I'm sorry," Anthony said as Katie smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek before she went rigid again.

"I'll see you when they're gone," Katie murmured as she slumped back against him and he could feel the heat rising again as he began rinsing the water over her. He didn't care if she soaked him, he at least felt like she was going to come back, no matter what happened.

------------------

"You left him alone back there?" Daniel asked as Alexa nodded her head yes. She hadn't seen a problem with it and Anthony would definitely take care of her better than most of them.

"I'm sure if something goes wrong he'll come get somebody, but there's not much we can do but keep the water on her and give her the medicine every four hours," Alexa said as she looked around and saw that Keema was not in there. "Did Keema blow up?"

"In a way, yeah," Win said as he looked over at Alexa.

Although all of them tried to act as if they were tied up with someone around here, they all really knew that they didn't want anyone but another ranger. Win had always liked Keema, but Keema had Anthony, why would he break that up? He knew what they meant to each other, but he had never thought that this would happen to them, of all people.

"Why don't you try to talk to her?" Alexa asked as Win just shook his head. There was no use trying to talk to her right now, she was not going to listen to him.

"I don't think that she wants to hear anything from me. She thinks that I'm on Anthony's side," Win said as Alexa and Daniel looked over at him.

"There's no sides here," Daniel said as Win nodded his agreement. They all knew that there weren't sides, but it had finally dawned on Keema that Anthony really was gone. He was married to someone else and she didn't have him anymore.

"Yeah, but it's hard to make someone just stop loving someone else," Kim said as she walked over to the Dycon rangers. "Believe me, I've tried it, it doesn't happen overnight."

"Some times it never happens," Tommy said, as he looked down at Kim and she looked at the floor. "But, if Anthony can be happy without Keema, I believe that Keema can be happy without Anthony. It's just going to take her a little while."

"How are the two of you so sure of that?" Alexa asked as they looked at each other and then looked over at Jason, who was still talking to Billy on the monitor.

"We've lived it," Tommy said as they gave him a confused look.

"We've tried to find other people and we never could. It never felt right, even when we thought we were in love, something always kept us from taking it to another level. Some of our friends, like Billy, have been able to find another to love after heartache, when others, like Rocky only love one person and that will never change. He's just lucky that she feels the same," Kim said as Tommy nodded. Rocky really was lucky and they all knew it, sometimes he just wouldn't admit it.

"So you're telling us that Keema will be fine?" Win asked as Kim and Tommy nodded their heads yes.

"Just like Conner will be okay. I think that he's putting up a really good front here, but he knows that Katie wouldn't have done it if he wasn't all right with it. They're too good of friends; she didn't want to ruin that and I'm sure Keema doesn't want to ruin what is left of her friendship with Anthony. He's not going to be here much longer and she won't have a long time to make amends if she screws things up. I don't think she'll want to live with that," Tommy said as they nodded.

They were all sure that Keema still wanted Anthony as a friend, but it was hard to take this change. It didn't matter that she knew about the prophecy, they had all hoped it wouldn't come true. They had all hoped they would not be the group of rangers to have to leave and go to another planet, but they fulfilled it all. Anthony was happy about it, now they just had to heal another ranger's heart.

"I better go back there, just in case," Alexa said as she turned to leave and they looked at her.

"I wonder what she knows that we don't," Daniel said as he looked at Win and Win just cast his head to the side and tried to ignore what he knew Daniel was insinuating.

"You know what she's talking about and I'm not going there," Win said as Kim and Tommy looked at the two of them then shrugged. They had enough problems of their own to deal with, without getting involved in any others.

"How's Hayley?" Tommy asked as he walked over to Jason and Jason just looked at him.

"Billy says that she stopped by this morning and that she was fine. I'm just ready to get back to her. I don't like being away from her," Jason said as he sat down on the console and Tommy and Kimberly joined him.

"I know," Tommy said as Jason looked over at the two of them. He knew that they didn't notice the way they were acting, as Tommy played with Kim's fingers and she in turn had placed her hand on his knee.

"It's different for you, Tommy," Jason said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "You don't live with a lot of the things that still bother me."

"And you don't live with the regrets that I have, Jase," Kim said as Jason could only nod his head in agreement, but he had others that he had to live with and he was pretty sure they were worse. "And we all have regrets, but what happened, happened. No one blames you for the train accident, no one blames you for anything that happened to Trini."

"I know, but when you feel blame on your shoulders, it doesn't matter that no one else blames you, you blame yourself," Jason said as Kim looked up at Tommy. She understood what he was saying all too well and Tommy seemed to understand it too.

"Yeah, but she'd want you to be able to move on and have a good life," Tommy said as Jason nodded his head in agreement.

"I guess I always hoped that she would come back to me; that it had all been a fluke, a lie, a mistake, even something as crazy as an alien abduction. I'm finally ready to have a life with someone else. I just hope that Hayley will have me," Jason said as a smile crept onto Kim's face and Tommy tried not to laugh. "You're sick."

"You brought it up," Tommy said as Kim began to laugh and Win and Daniel looked over at them. How could they be laughing right now? "You know, I probably should just go back there and check on her. She'll beat my ass if I don't."

"Only physical harm will make you go, what a shame," Kim said with a smile as Tommy looked over at her. She knew that he was worried about Katie, but Katie did have a husband now and he was the one that really should look after her.

"I don't think she's awake yet," Jason said as Kim nodded in agreement.

"But we don't need to tell Tommy that. He's still her brother and it is hard to have responsibilities change, although they haven't on Earth," Kim said as Jason nodded his head. "That's going to have to be weird to be married on one planet and have to act like you don't even like each other on another.

"She cooled off any?" Tommy asked as he walked in and both Alexa and Anthony jumped. Alexa had told Anthony what was going on with Keema and neither of them wanted an attack right now.

"Well, she hasn't had the chance to get any hotter and the medicine is doing it's job," Alexa said as Tommy looked over at Anthony, who still seemed to be extremely concerned. "It's the best news that we can have right now."

"Yeah, we're going to have to contact Billy again to see when the planets will be in the correct alignment for us to go back," Tommy said as Anthony just nodded. "You all right?"

"Just thinking," Anthony said as he closed his eyes and then looked over at Tommy. "How did you go through this so many times?"

"The same way you are; it was never fun and I never felt whole until she woke up, but she had to deal with worse than I did. She saw me on a cot more times than I would like to remember, but she never left, just like you'll never leave. You get it now, don't you?" Tommy asked as Anthony nodded his head.

"Yeah, I do, I just wish it wouldn't have been like this," Anthony said as Tommy nodded his head that he understood.

"Just come get me when she wakes up. We'll have to find some dry clothes," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head, as what she was wearing was completely soaked.

"You up for it?" Alexa asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and then smiled. "What's that for?"

"Thanks for believing in me," Anthony said as Alexa just shook her head.

He had been her leader for the past two years. Why wouldn't she believe in him? He had never led them wrong, well too far wrong, and he had done a good job that's what counted. They had all known about the prophecy when they got into this and she had took it for what it was. She just felt sorry that Keema had not, until now.

"No problem, we're teammates," Alexa said as Anthony nodded his head in agreement. "What's that look for?"

"I wish Keema felt the same, I didn't mean to do this to anyone. I didn't mean for my feelings to change, but it happened. As soon as I got there, I knew the prophecy was coming true and why did Keema break up with me if she didn't realize it too? Why didn't she let me do the dirty work?" Anthony asked as Alexa looked over at him. She didn't know why Keema had done it if she didn't feel what was going on.

"I can't answer that for you, Tony, but she can," Alexa said as Anthony nodded his head and looked down at Katie. He then gently traced her features and tried to feel if she was any cooler. "You've got to talk to her before you leave."

"I know, but I have to make sure she is going to be fine," Anthony said as Alexa nodded her head that she understood. She just hoped that everything would work out for them.

"Yeah, otherwise Tommy will beat your ass," Alexa said as Anthony nodded his head in agreement and smiled over at her. He didn't want to lose all of them, but he knew his heart was gaining more. "Hey, don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

"I always will; it's not like I can just forget everything that has happened in the last several years," Anthony said as Alexa just looked up at him. He had never been one to show his emotional side, but he was now. They were all going to miss him, but he had to go and they had to get used to the idea of living without him there as their leader.

AN: I hope you like it and if you don't, let me know where I can make some improvements. Thank you so much for reading this story and supporting it. Also, does anyone happen to know Hayley's last name? I'm not sure if it is mentioned in the series or not, but it's not my favorite to watch, so I might have missed the episode. Let me know if she does have one. Toodles!


	50. Alive

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy), Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

AN: I have been trying to find out if Hayley has a last name, so if anyone knows it will you please send me a message, it is important to this story.

"You had to come out here too?" Conner asked as Keema quickly wiped her eyes and looked away from him. She didn't want to face anyone right now, especially someone who could tell what was going on with her. Conner knew all too well what she was feeling, but he was in no mood to talk about it.

"Yeah," Keema said as she looked over at him.

"Keema, I know. It's hard to believe that a week ago we were all happy and wouldn't have thought of this, but they're happy. What can you do? I don't think they're going to change their mind," Conner said as Keema looked over at him. She knew Anthony was happy, but she couldn't believe that all his feelings could shift so quickly. That he honestly didn't care about her anymore, he could just move on so quickly to the next person.

"I want them to be happy, but I still want Anthony as a friend. I can't imagine losing him completely," Keema said as Conner nodded. He wanted the same thing from Katie, but he knew it was going to take some work. Not all of his romantic feelings were gone and deep down, he knew some of them would never completely fade, but he had to be honest. He had thought that she would be it, then he bumped into Kasi one day, and other things clicked, things that Katie couldn't make happen for him. He was sure that day would come for Keema as well, she just had to hold out for it.

"I don't think that he'll ever quit being your friend, but things have changed, they had to," Conner said as Keema nodded her head. What she had said to him just a little while ago made her mad at herself, but he was understanding, most of the time. She just didn't know if he would be able to overlook it, considering it was his wife that was in danger.

"Yeah and I guess that means we have to change too, whether we like it or not," Keema said, sadly, as Conner nodded his head yes.

"But it doesn't have to be for the worse, it can be for the better. I'm a better person because of Katie and I'm sure you can say the same thing about your time with Anthony, but who else is there? Who else makes you feel special? You know there is some one, otherwise you probably would have fought for him, at least I think you would have," Conner said as Keema looked back towards the center. "So there is someone. Which one?"

"Well, I'm not so sure about that. He's only ever been my friend, I don't know if he wants more," Keema said as Conner just looked over at her and merely nodded. She didn't have to tell him anything that she didn't want to, he was not on her ranger team.

"Trust me that you'll know when you are ready to move on; it'll just take some time," Conner said as Keema nodded her head and sat down next to him in silence. The two of them both needed some time to think everything out.

-----------------

"How did I know that you were going to bring us back here?" Garrett asked as they drove up to Dr. O's house and climbed out of her car. He had thought that she might abandon the idea once Kasi refused to help, but obviously she had not and he was just along for the ride. "You know we could get in serious trouble for this."

"Look, I just think that we should do more than we did last time. There has to be something that'll prove everything," Angelina said as Garrett pulled her back to him and sat down on the hood of her car. He had to get across his point now or he might never have the chance.

"Lina, this is the way we can get ourselves killed. If they are rangers then it is their business and I don't think it is smart to sneak around Dr. O's anymore. Let's just ask them when they come back to school," Garrett said as Angelina looked back at him and let out a sigh.

"I just think that we should look," Angelina said, as Garrett shook his head no. "You know that they'll lie to us if we ask them about it."

"I think we know enough to be able to prove that they are rangers, I don't think we need to be here. It just gives me the creeps to be here without Dr. O's permission and so what if they lie to us? Rangers aren't supposed to be found out, we both know that. There is no use in us proving it to anyone but ourselves," Garrett said as Angelina looked over at him and then back at the house. She just wanted to make sure no one was home. She wanted to make sure that her hunch was not completely out in left field.

"Let me ring the doorbell and just see if someone answers," Angelina said as Garrett nodded his head and let her go. It wouldn't hurt for her to do that and if someone answered the door, then they would just say that they had come to check on Katie. He was pretty sure no one was there, but he had been wrong before. "No one."

"Come on, let's go to Hayley's, maybe we'll be able to chill out for a little while," Garrett said as Angelina just shook her head. "What's going on?"

"I just have this weird feeling, it's probably nothing," Angelina said as Garrett nodded. They both had been having weird feelings for the last few days and they had absolutely no clue what they might mean. "Hayley's it is."

-----------------

"Oh," Katie moaned as her eyes flickered open and she spit out the water that had landed in her mouth, while shaking out her hair. "They're gone."

"You're sure?" Anthony asked as Alexa continued to poor the water on Katie, as she was in complete shock. She had not thought that her recovery would be so complete in such a short amount of time. She had thought that Katie would come back to them in stages. "Lexa, you can stop. She's fine."

"I'll go tell Tommy," Alexa said as she stood up and ran out of the room. She knew that the white ranger was going to be ecstatic to hear that she was awake and that they would soon be able to get home to their loved ones.

"You're okay?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head yes and then gave him a kiss.

"I'm fine, Andy. My powers are back and I feel good, just a little bit ashamed of everything I did," Katie said as Anthony just nodded his head. She hadn't done anything too bad from what he had been able to see and she would be able to live with it all.

"Hey, they know and they understand what it's like to have something take you over. They don't blame you, trust me on that one," Anthony said as Katie smiled and then snuggled closer to him. She just wanted to have some peace, if it was possible. She wanted to go back to a normal life.

"Do you know when we're leaving?" Katie asked, as Anthony shook his head no. He didn't really want to think about that right now, but he knew that it was something that he was going to have to face. He was going to be leaving this planet soon and he might as well get used to the idea. "I know you're going to miss it."

"But I would rather miss this place than let you go," Anthony said as Katie smiled up at him and then looked over towards the door as she heard it open.

"I'm glad you're awake," Tommy said as he walked in and she stood up to give him a hug and managed to soak him as well. "You sure that you're fine?"

"Yeah, powers and all," Katie said as she morphed to prove it to him, then quickly powered down. "When are we going home?"

"As soon as Anthony can say good-bye," Tommy said looking over at the teenager and he merely nodded his head that he understood that they couldn't wait around. The planets would only be in alignment for a couple more days at the most and then they would have to wait for another window to arise and that could take months, if not years. They didn't have that sort of time to spend on another planet, they were already pushing their luck as it was.

"Do what you have to do," Katie said as Anthony gave her a grateful smile and he then looked over at Tommy.

"Hey, I'm not the one that's going to be mad at you about anything. This is the one place I don't have any experience in," Tommy said as Katie looked up at Anthony and then guided him out of the room.

"Really, do what you have to do, we'll leave when you're ready," Katie said as she gave him a hug and then a gentle push towards the doors. She was sure that he wanted to say good-bye to his parents, but she didn't know that he had done that before they got married. His parents knew just how short the window would be and how important it was to keep these rangers identities a secret. He just had to clear some things with one person, then he would be able to leave this planet with a free conscience.

"You don't know how much he needs that," Tommy said as he walked up next to Katie and she smiled up at him.

"Yeah, I do Tommy. Trust me, I would have loved to have a chance to say good-bye to our parents," Katie said as Tommy nodded his head and then gave her a bear hug.

"I'm glad you made it," Tommy said as Katie looked up at him with a smile. "How can you be smiling?"

"I knew he wouldn't let me down; he'd get me back. Remember, I have to trust him completely and I do," Katie said as Tommy could only shake his head. This did not sound like the same girl that he had come here with and he knew that she wasn't, he just liked to fool himself into thinking that she had somehow managed to stay the same.

"You just take that attitude back with you to Earth, I'm afraid you're going to need it," Tommy said as Katie looked over at him and just shook her head.

"You think that I'll have some competition?" Katie asked as they walked in amongst the other rangers and they were surprised to see her up and about, like nothing had happened. They had all thought that it would be a very slow recovery, but she was resilient and she had her powers back, both of those things worked in her favor.

"Not in his mind, but you are dealing with teenage girls, some are desperate," Tommy said as Kim and Katie exchanged a glance. Katie was hoping that Kim would deny what he was saying, but she wasn't, she was just quietly agreeing with Tommy.

"Yeah and the eyes are going to get some of them, although some may just be happy to get to play with his hair," Kim said as Katie groaned and Jason laughed.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Kate," Jason said as Tommy gave him a look. He was worried enough because he knew what Katie was capable of if someone tried her and he didn't want to have to explain why she got in a fight over the new guy. "I'm just saying that even when Tommy first came to Angel Grove, lots were interested, but he only had one in mind. If Anthony only has one in mind, it makes it a lot easier on you."

"I'm glad that he's got all of this figured out, because I don't think the rest of us do," Kim said with a smile, as she was excited that they were close to going back home. There were lots of things that were on the up side for them and she couldn't imagine it being any better than this. "Has Hayley worked on getting his transcripts and everything ready?"

"Yeah, from what Billy was saying everything is ready for when he comes back, even a last name. All we have to do is get back," Jason said as the other three nodded and looked over at Daniel, Win, and Alexa, who were very quiet.

"It's hard to lose a leader," Win said as they nodded their heads. Kim and Tommy had been through it and Jason knew how hard it was for a team to survive it, but they were on a planet full of rangers, surely they could find a replacement.

"He's not going to ever forget any of you," Katie said as they nodded their heads. They knew that he was not going to forget them, but were they going to be able to survive it?

----------------

"Keema? Can I talk to you?" Anthony asked as he saw her and Conner sitting side by side in silence. He wondered how long they had been sitting exactly like this, but he didn't ask. He knew better than to do that if he was going to get everything done that needed to be done.

"Yeah, I guess," Keema said as Conner stood to go back into the center. He knew that he needed to make sure all his stuff was packed for when they left.

"You know I'm leaving," Anthony stated as Keema nodded her head yes. She knew it, she didn't want to believe it, but she didn't have much of a choice about the matter. He was going to be gone in a matter of hours and there was nothing that she could do about it. "Keema, I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I know, but it's just hard to take, Tony. You've only known her for a couple of weeks and now you're married. I never thought the prophecy would come true. I thought we would be able to over come it and anything else that might come up," Keema said as she hastily wiped her eyes and Anthony could only nod. He had thought a lot of the same things and then they went to Earth and everything changed. His surety that he could beat the prophecy changed, it all did, but he was where he needed to be. He realized that now, even if it hurt, he realized that this was what he was supposed to do and there was nothing that they could do about it. "I guess I was wrong."

"Keema, I still care and I'll never be able to forget you," Anthony said as Keema looked up at him. She knew that he meant it, but it did not make it any easier, knowing that he was going to be leaving her and all of them to fend for themselves. "I just hate the way this happened."

"You're not the only one. When I thought that I'd be giving you up, I didn't think that it would be this way. I thought that we'd grow apart and then you'd go to some planet and meet someone. It didn't happen that way and we both have to live with that," Keema said as Anthony nodded his head. That was the idea that he had thought of many times, but it was not what came true. What came true was one of his worst nightmares, but it had somehow worked out. He didn't know how they managed to make it work, but it had and he knew that this was the right way. He just hoped that Keema realized it as well. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she seems fine. I don't think that she knows the full extent of what she did, yet. I'm sure that it will all come back to her soon enough. Are we okay?" Anthony asked as Keema looked up at him and then nodded her head yes. She couldn't hold this against him when he was going to be leaving. She knew that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she held something against him when he had done what he had to do. It wasn't easy to let all of their relationship go, but it was the only thing that made sense and it was the only thing that she could do. She couldn't fight for him, he was already gone, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

"As good as we can be," Keema said as Anthony gave her a hug and then looked back at the center. He knew that he needed to get back in there so that they could leave. They needed as much time as they could get. "When are you leaving?"

"I don't know," Anthony said as Keema just nodded her head. "You know that you'll never be alone here."

"Yeah, right. All the other eligible bachelors are rangers and I don't think I need to try to take Daniel away from Alexa. That would cause a fight that no one would ever forget," Keema said as Anthony looked at her. Could she really be this dumb? Hadn't she noticed any of the things that went on between her and Win over the last couple of years? Or maybe it was just him and all the other rangers that noticed it, that would surely explain why she had not broken up with him sooner.

"I'm sure that you can think of someone, if you think hard enough," Anthony said pointedly as Keema just shook her head no and Anthony let out a long sigh. He was glad that he was not going to be here to watch them sort out their feelings, as it was bound to get ugly. "Well, I'm sure that you'll figure something out."

"Thanks," Keema said sarcastically as Anthony stood up and looked at the center. He knew that he couldn't wait much longer. The rangers were going to need to leave as soon as they could.

"Come on, let's go inside. I don't need to keep them waiting," Anthony said as Keema nodded her head in agreement and then followed him inside.

"You have thirty more minutes if you need it," Katie said, as Anthony shook his head no and joined the other rangers. He had done what he needed to do and now they could go back to Earth.

"Good-bye," Anthony said as he felt himself being teleported away and he could only take in a deep breath. He couldn't imagine what was ahead of him, but he knew that his life would go on, no matter what came his way.

AN: Okay, they're going back to Earth. I hope you like this chapter and I'll have the next one out soon. I'm not sure where I'll end this story, although I already have an ending in mind, I just have to get there. Again, I hope you enjoyed it and toodles!


	51. Back on Earth

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy), Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, and Alegia.

"We're back," Katie breathed as they landed in the Command Center and she saw Billy standing next to the module. She couldn't believe that they were actually back home and was astonished when Anthony gathered her in a strong hug and then spun her around. He had doubted that they would be able to make it back safely, just because of how his luck had been running, but they were really back on Earth. "We're back!"

"When can I see Hayley?" Jason asked as he walked over to Billy as the others celebrated about their return with high fives and hugs.

"Well, it is a Friday, I do imagine that she would be at the cyberspace. Are all of you up for being teleported one more time?" Billy asked as they nodded their heads yes before he teleported them to Reefside. "When are we going to talk to them?"

"We'll let them have their night to celebrate, being successful rangers is something that not many people can claim," Zordon said as Billy nodded. He knew what Zordon was talking about and he understood how much they all needed this night.

------------------

"We have to go to Hayley's," Jason said as they landed in Tommy's living room and Anthony stared around the home. He had never seen a house quite like this, but it seemed that he was not going to have time to investigate it now. It seemed like they were going to be leaving as soon as they possibly could.

"We need his last name first, Jason," Katie said as she was sure that some one there would know her and would want to know Anthony's name. They needed to have their bases thoroughly covered in case they pressed them for more.

"Viktor, simple enough, right?" Jason said as he headed for the door and they stopped him again. Were they trying to drive him up the wall, because if they were they were doing a very good job of it. "Why the hell are you doing this?"

"Jase, we need to take showers. We kinda need to look like we haven't just come from a battle to save a planet," Kim said as she pointed between herself, Tommy, Jason, Conner, and Katie. They all were disgusting and they did not want to cause a true scene.

"Kim…" Jason growled as Tommy stepped between the two. He had to agree with Kimberly, especially considering the fact that he was supposedly sick. He was going to have to get Kim to put some make-up on his face to make him look a little pale, just so they would be able to pull it off.

"We have to; we don't have much of a choice. There are all sorts of things that we have to cover before we can go," Tommy said as Jason just nodded his head as Katie sprinted up the stairs and Anthony just stared. What was going on around here?

"What's going on?" Anthony asked as he looked between Tommy and Jason, who seemed to be content to wait to get in the shower.

"They are just going to go take a shower before we go into Reefside," Tommy said simply as Anthony still gave him a confused look.

"What's that?" Anthony asked as Tommy walked over to the couch and sat down, as Jason followed him and Anthony just looked at the couches.

"Sit, it won't bother you," Tommy said as Anthony gingerly sat on the couch, expecting to be shocked, or something.

"Still, what is it?" Anthony asked, as Tommy looked at him, confused as to how to explain a shower. It was not a concept that he had ever had to explain before, most people just knew what it was.

"It cleans your body," Tommy said as Anthony nodded his head, although it didn't really help him any. They didn't have anything like that on Eltar.

"Oh," Anthony said as Tommy and Jason smiled.

"You'll get used to Earth, Andy; it's just going to take awhile, but I have some questions for you," Tommy said as Anthony just nodded his head. He had expected that he would be questioned about something in the near future, he just didn't know what it might be. "You know how to read, write, do math, right?"

"Yeah, we were taught many things at the ranger academy. If we did not accelerate in our classes, we were dropped from the program. All of the rangers have to be prepared mentally as well as physically," Anthony said as Tommy nodded, that made him feel a little bit better about Hayley registering Anthony a couple of days ago.

"Another thing, there is no talking about rangers except when you are with other rangers," Jason said as Anthony nodded and then looked over at Conner, who was still standing close to the entrance.

"You all right, Conner?" Anthony asked as Conner looked over at him and just nodded his head yes. He had been off in another world and he would have liked to stay there for a little bit longer.

"Dr. O! Open up!" Kira yelled as she beat on the door. They had just heard from Hayley that the rangers were back on Earth and they wanted to see it with their own eyes.

"Kira, remember what happened the last time we beat on his door like this?" Trent said as he could vividly remember a pissed Dr. Oliver answering the door. He never wanted to experience that again if he could help it.

"Come on in," Tommy said as he opened the door and Kira gave him a hug, which caused him to slowly return the embrace and give Trent a confused look. What was going on with Kira? She had never exactly been the type to just hug for no reason. "Kira? Something wrong?"

"You're all right," Kira said as she let go of him and Tommy nodded his head that he was fine. He had never seen her act like this before. "Where's Conner?"

"Over here," Conner said with a smile as Kira ran over to him and gave him a hug, which caused him to laugh. "You didn't think that we were coming back?"

"You've been gone for a week, without a bit of news, I was worried about you," Kira said as she released him and then looked around the living room and saw an unfamiliar face.

"Who is the new guy?" Trent muttered to Tommy as he tried to think of a good way to explain it to them. They were going to freak when they heard someone from another planet was now living here, but the marriage thing was definitely something that was going to affect them, somehow.

"Katie's husband," Tommy muttered back as Trent dropped the bottle of water he had been holding and it splattered everywhere.

"Ethan, Trent, Kira, this is Anthony," Jason said as they all nodded their heads, as Ethan and Kira continued to stare at Trent. "He's going to be living with Hayley and me."

"What the hell is going on here?" Kira asked as Anthony shot Tommy a desperate glance. He had not expected to run into people that knew about the mission, but didn't know about the consequences of the mission so soon. He had hoped that it would be a few weeks before he dealt with something like this. "Dr. O, what's going on?"

"Sit," Tommy said as the three of them quickly found places to sit down and Conner still insisted on standing up. "Conner, you too, it won't hurt you."

"You still haven't said what's going on," Kira said as Trent looked over at her. He was not sure that Kira would want to hear about this, but she needed to hear it in order to be able to truly understand it.

"Anthony is Katie's husband and he had to come back with us," Tommy said, simply, as Kira and Ethan's jaws dropped and Conner looked over at Anthony and offered him a smile. The two of them honestly didn't hold any grudges against the other, the timing was just bad, and there was nothing that they could do about that. "But on Earth they will date until she's done with college, then they will get married."

"Shower's free," Katie said as she walked downstairs in a pair of jeans and her pink racerback shirt. That was when she noticed the odd silence and silence was one thing that never reigned in this house, especially when people were over. "What's going on? Why are all of you so quiet?"

"Dr. O was just telling us about Anthony," Kira said as Katie's eyes widened as she looked over at her brother and then between Anthony and Conner.

"Tommy…" Katie said as he just shook his head. He hadn't told them everything that had gone on and he was not planning on doing that unless they asked for specifics and it didn't seem that they were going to do that. It seemed like they didn't want to know anymore than what they had already found out. "Why aren't you going to hop in the shower?"

"Jason beat me," Tommy said as he pointed over to where Jason had been sitting and Katie just nodded. "Kim will get done about the time that Jason does, so me and Conner can just hurry up and take showers after them."

"Are you staying in town for the night?" Conner asked as he looked over at his fellow Dino rangers.

"Yeah, we were planning on it; it is a Friday after all," Trent said as he could tell that Conner just wanted to talk to them. After he got some of it out of his system, he would be fine; he just had to get it out of his system.

"Want to find something on t.v.?" Tommy asked the rangers as all of them nodded their heads, expect Anthony, who looked confused.

"We're not going to be here that long, Tommy," Katie pointed out as she sat down next to Anthony and looked over at what he was wearing and then at her brother. "You need some clothes."

"Clothes? What's wrong with these?" Anthony asked as Katie just shook her head and looked over at Tommy.

"I have some things that he can wear for the time being. I guess Kim's going to have to take him shopping," Tommy said as Katie looked over at him. Shopping was not that bad and they both knew it.

"Well, do you want me to go get it or are you going to go get it?" Katie asked as Tommy just looked at her and then turned to walk up the stairs. He was not going to argue with her tonight, he had too many other things to try to deal with.

"So, why?" Kira asked as Katie and Anthony looked at each other before Katie let out a sigh.

"It all comes down to a prophecy," Katie said as they gave her confused looks. "That's really all there is to it."

"That has to be one hell of a prophecy," Trent said as Katie just nodded her head and then stood up to go get something to drink from the kitchen.

"Here you go," Tommy said as he handed Anthony a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. It was the best that he could do until they had a chance to find things that fit him.

"These are clothes?" Anthony asked as he held up the garments. Sure he had seen them on the Earth rangers, but he had never thought he would be wearing them.

"Yes and that's what people wear here. You want to blend in some," Katie said as she sat back down next to him and he looked at both garments and then over at Katie. Where was he supposed to change?

"Where can I go put these on?" Anthony asked, as Katie tried to think of a room that probably had no one in it.

"Her room," Tommy said as all the rangers gaped at him. He had said that they were just going to date for around six years, not that they were going to date in public and act like a married couple in private. "They're married, I don't have a right to tell them what to do and what not to do."

"Yeah you do," Anthony said as Tommy looked down at him and Katie then grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. She could tell that Tommy was just slightly perturbed by the whole situation.

"I'll show him," Katie said as Anthony quickly followed her out of the room and Tommy collapsed on the couch.

"Dr. O, how in the world are you going to do this?" Ethan asked as Tommy looked up at him and just shrugged his shoulders. He had no clue, but he was just taking everything one day at a time. He had had too many surprises lately and he had learned that this was the best way to handle it.

"How am I going to propose to the woman I love? How am I going to save my ass at Reefside High? How am I going to explain this to Andie? And you want to know how I am going to survive their marriage? That's pretty easy, it's their life, not mine and Kate had to make a tough decision and she did. I support it and her," Tommy said as they nodded. Dr. Oliver was close to having an emotional breakdown and they just needed to try to smooth everything over.

---------------

"This is my room," Katie said as she opened the door and then flicked on the light. During her brief visit to Eltar, she had never seen Anthony's personal belongings, much less his room, which she could only assume was at the center.

"I like it," Anthony said with a smile as she sat down on the bed and he began changing. "You all right?"

"It's just a lot to take, Andy, my friends are not going to take this well. The last time they saw me, I was still dating Conner and they like him. You're new around and it'll take them awhile to warm up to you," Katie said as Anthony sat down next to her and gave her a hug.

"Well, right now I am just Hayley's long lost cousin to you and you're just being nice by showing me around town. I know it's going to be tough, but we'll do what we have to," Anthony said as Katie merely nodded her head. It sounded easy, but she was not a person that could just switch her emotions on and off easily. "This better?"

"Yeah," Katie said with a smile as she heard the sound of feet coming up the stairs and she knew that either meant that Conner and Tommy were going to throw Kim and Jason out of the showers or that they had finished their showers. "We just can't let anyone see your stomach."

"I'd have to be studied then, wouldn't I?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head, as she could just imagine the headlines if someone got a hold of the fact that there was a boy with no belly button on Earth. "Don't worry about that, I won't have much of a reason to change in front of people."

"I'm so tired," Katie said as she leaned back on her bed and closed her eyes as Anthony smiled over at her.

"You have all weekend to rest, we've got to calm some peoples nerves tonight," Anthony said as Katie just nodded from her position. She was not going to move until Tommy yelled that they were about to leave.

"I know, but they'll yell to us when it's time to go to Hayley's," Katie said as she pulled Anthony down next to her and then rested her head on his shoulder. "Just let me take a nap and wake me up when they are ready to go."

"Okay," Anthony said as he pulled her closer and then stared up at the ceiling. This was so different from the life that he had thought he would be living, but he loved it. He loved anything that had her there next to him and he didn't know how much of the plan he would be able to successfully execute. There was so much that made him wonder right now and she was definitely part of it.

--------------

"Where are Katie and Anthony?" Tommy asked as he came back downstairs from his shower and saw that they were the only two missing.

"Don't know, they never came back down," Kira said as Tommy let out a long sigh and then turned to go back up the stairs to root the two of them out of her room.

"Tommy, they're probably just tired," Kim said, as Tommy looked back at her and just kept on stalking up the stairs. "Great, now the two of them are going to get in a fight."

"I don't know about that," Conner said as Kim looked over at him. He might know Tommy, but he did not know the inner-workings of Tommy Oliver and she was sure she had a firm grasp on that concept.

"Kate," Tommy said as he opened the door and spotted the two of them on the bed, Anthony still wide awake, with Katie asleep on his shoulder.

"I got it," Anthony said as he gently shook her and she slowly stirred from her position.

"Time to go?" Katie yawned as Anthony nodded his head yes and Katie sat up to see her brother standing in the doorway. "Sorry, I was tired."

"I know, but the two of you have to act like friends, for a few days at the very least," Tommy said as they both nodded their heads and then followed him out of the room.

"So, we ready to go?" Jason asked as he stood up from his place on the couch and looked eagerly towards the door. He had wanted to leave an hour ago to go see Hayley and his patience was running thin.

"Yeah, the five of us can pile into Kate's car and if you want to ride with them Conner, that's fine," Tommy said as Conner nodded his head that he was all right with the plan.

"What's a car?" Anthony asked as Katie smiled over at him and then pulled him outside so that she could try to explain it to him.

"He's got a lot to learn," Conner said as they all nodded their heads, but they were sure that he was not the top ranger from Eltar for nothing.

"We'll meet you at Hayley's," Tommy said as they watched them pile into the car and drive off.

"How you doing?" Kira asked as Conner watched the car drive off.

"I'm okay," Conner said as they all gave him skeptical looks. "Really, I am. I just have to get used to it all. She did something that I could never do and she saved that planet, I think she deserves something good out of the deal."

"What happened?" Trent asked as they climbed into his car and he took off down Dr. Oliver's driveway.

"Besides having to get married, which was odd enough as it is, no rings, just these tattoos. She was turned evil, in order for Anthony to be able to get the powers that would destroy the anondrones," Conner said as Kira gave his hand a squeeze. "Of course, she could have been much worse."

"But it was enough to see someone evil again," Trent said as Conner nodded his head.

"She could have died, her powers were ripped away from her, and she somehow held on. I don't know, maybe it's an Oliver thing," Conner said as the others smiled. "He brought her back, though. He wouldn't give up on her when everyone else wanted to, I can't say that he doesn't care about her."

"Yeah, but you still do too," Ethan said as Conner just nodded his head. He did care, but he couldn't have stopped her if he had tried. There was too much that told him to let her go her own way and have someone that could make her happy.

"It's not the same and it'll never be the same," Conner said as they pulled up to Hayley's and they looked over at Dr. Oliver's car. This was definitely going to be fun.

"Who needed the shake?" Hayley asked as she looked around the café. Someone had ordered a shake, she knew that she hadn't just made it up.

"I got it Hayley," Kasi said as she took the shake out of her hand and walked over to a table as the door opened, but Hayley just sat down and let out a weary sigh. She didn't want anymore customers tonight.

"Dr. Oliver?" Angelina asked as Tommy walked in and looked around at the crowd. He hated when he had so many people staring at him for absolutely no reason.

"Very funny, Angelina," Hayley said as she looked up and saw Jason standing in front of her and she quickly had to grab the counter to keep herself upright. "Jase…"

"I'm here, it's all going to be all right," Jason said as he walked back behind the counter and gathered her in a strong hug. He could feel Hayley clinging to him and he just closed his eyes to try to keep his composure. He did not want to lose it in front of all these people that he barely knew.

"Who's the new kid?" Angelina asked as Anthony walked in and looked over at Katie.

"This is Anthony, he's living with Hayley now and we were just showing him around town," Katie said as Angelina studied her and Garrett just looked between the two of them. There was something else going on that they didn't know about, but Katie didn't seem like she was going to talk about it anytime soon.

"I'm going to go over there," Anthony said as he did not like the feeling he was getting from the two of them and he knew that trying to shake it would be impossible.

"Okay, nice to meet you," Angelina said as she gave Katie a curious look. Conner had walked in, but the two of them didn't seem interested in being around each other.

"Nice to meet you too," Anthony said as he walked over to Tommy and just looked at him. He was going to need a lot of help here and it all began with just meeting people.

"What's happened with you and Conner?" Angelina asked as Katie looked over at Conner and sighed. It was easy to think up an excuse, but to say it was a different story.

"We broke up; things just weren't working out," Katie said as Angelina looked at Garrett and he just shook his head. He couldn't believe that they would break up so soon, but weirder things had happened.

"That's too bad," Garrett said as Katie nodded her head and then glanced over at her brother and Anthony, who were in deep conversation. "What's going on with him?"

"Just a friend," Katie said as Angelina looked at her and just shook her head.

"I've seen that look in your eyes before. You feel much more for him than friendship," Angelina said as Katie looked at the floor before barely nodding her head. "He's cute, even with the hair."

"I want to get to know him better before anything else happens," Katie said as Angelina and Garrett nodded their heads. They could understand that sort of logic from Katie, but they could not understand the bruise on her collarbone.

"Where'd you get that?" Angelina asked as she touched the bruise and Katie tried to look down at it, but couldn't see it.

"No clue, I've been rolling around in bed for the last few days," Katie said as Angelina gave her look that clearly told her that she was not going to believe her.

"No telephone?" Angelina asked as Katie bit her bottom lip and Tommy walked over behind her. He really was tired and he wanted to get home and rest. It was good that they had said he was sick, that gave him a true excuse to leave.

"I need to get home," Tommy said as he put his arm around her and she just nodded up at him.

"Sorry guys, I have to call it an early night," Katie said as Tommy, Kim, and Anthony all turned to exit the cyberspace.

"It's fine, we understand," Angelina said as she looked over at Garrett and then shrugged her shoulders. There were just some things about Katie Oliver that they were never going to understand.

AN: I hope that you like this and let me know what you think about it! The next chapter is just going to be more of them being back home and some explanations of some worries. Toodles!


	52. Settling Back in at Home

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy), Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, Alegia, and Maddie Viktor.

_Hayley's Home_

"Home," Hayley said as she and Jason walked into her home late that night. Several of her customers had stuck around for much longer than usual, but she had finally had to kick them out for the first time since she had started her business. She needed to be able to get home with Jason. She needed to be able to really know that he was all right and he was not just faking it in front of the public, as he was known to do in the past.

"Yeah, home," Jason said as he put both of his arms around her and kicked the door closed with his foot. He didn't want to waste any time making sure that Hayley knew everything she needed to know. She had never been a particularly patient person when it came to information and he knew that what he had done to her mental state was something he deeply regretted. "I'm so glad to be back."

"Let me lock the door, Jase, then we can talk about everything we need to," Hayley said as Jason took the keys from her and quickly locked the door. She looked exhausted right now and he was worried about what her work hours were doing to the baby. "Well, that works too."

"I love you so much," Jason said as he reached down and kissed her. Sure, Jason had said it to her before, but it had never been with much conviction. It always seemed like he said it because he thought that was what she wanted to hear from him. Now, she knew it was what he truly felt, she just wished he would not have taken so long to come around.

"I love you too," Hayley said as she broke the kiss and then looked over at the couch. It looked so comfortable right now and that was where she wanted to go. She had been on her feet for eight hours and quite frankly she needed to sit down and get some rest before Jason's worried look turned into something more.

"Go on, settle down, I'll get you something to drink if you want," Jason said as Hayley nodded and went to sit down on the couch. She wanted no more than to watch a good movie while Jason just wrapped his arms around her and let her drift off to sleep. She had the feeling that that was not going to go exactly as she wanted it to, but she was just glad that he was at home with her, hopefully for good.

"How are you?" Hayley asked as Jason handed her some sprite and then settled down next to her.

"I'm okay, just a little bit sore. Katie beat the crap out of us yesterday," Jason said as Hayley looked back at him, wondering what he was talking about. She couldn't believe that another ranger had gone evil, but it seemed it happened every time Tommy was on a ranger team. Katie had seemed fine today, though, so either the effects were not long lasting or they had worked some sort of miracle in only a few hours.

"She's back on our side, right?" Hayley asked as Jason looked at her. "Don't look at me like that, I just need a straight answer. I need to know that all of you are safe."

"Yeah she's back on our side. Do you really think that Tommy would have her at his house right now if she wasn't?" Jason asked as Hayley shrugged her shoulders. That was his sister, she could believe that he would take her in, even if she was evil. He honestly believed in giving someone that was evil a second chance, if his friends hadn't done that he would probably still be in the guilt of it today. "How have you been?"

"I'm all right, I've just been worried Jason," Hayley said as he nodded his head and placed both of his arms around her. "You were gone a very long time. I was starting to get worried that you weren't going to come back."

"Sorry I did that to you," Jason said as he closed his eyes and let out sigh. He had told Hayley so many things in his hurry before leaving, now he wanted to take the time to explain. He wanted to really let her know everything, not just the bare facts that had allowed him to go on the mission. "I didn't want to worry you right now, but who would have thought that I'd ever be a ranger again."

"Who would have thought that Tommy would ever be a ranger again?" Hayley pointed out as Jason nodded his head in agreement. He sure as hell had not expected for Tommy to get put on yet another ranger team. Then again, this was Tommy they were talking about, if he died as a ranger, it wouldn't really surprise any of them. "It really hasn't been that bad, but we've got to tell my parents some time Jason. Thanksgiving is only a couple of months away and I'm sure that I'll be showing a little bit by then. I don't want to shock them when they come in and see that their daughter is pregnant."

"I know, my parents aren't going to be thrilled to hear about this, although they gave up years ago trying to tell me what to do with my relationships, especially after Trini. They didn't have any sort of advice left for me," Jason said, as Hayley just nodded. She could imagine her parents being the same way. It didn't much matter that they were adults, they were still their children and they still felt they should try to protect them. They had already messed up enough that they didn't need to hear anything else from their parents.

"Mine aren't going to be thrilled, but it's not the same as yours. They don't even know about you. They've always thought that I have something for Tommy. This is going to shock them, hell it might even push them over the edge," Hayley said as she just shook her head.

"Why would it push them over the edge?" Jason asked as Hayley looked away from him and she felt him gently turn her face back towards him. She did not want to reveal all of this to Jason now, but she knew that he was not going to let her just leave it alone. "Hayley...why?"

"My sister," Hayley said as Jason looked over at her with an odd glance. He didn't even know that Hayley had a sister. She had talked about everyone else in her family, but not a sister, unless he had missed that conversation completely. "We're not close anymore."

"That doesn't make sense, you love your family. What happened?" Jason asked as Hayley scooted away from him so that she could truly face him.

"We all have our secrets Jason, this is one of mine. My parents had a huge falling out with her about ten years ago, when I was eighteen and she was sixteen. I wish that I would have stood by her more, but at that time, I couldn't do much to help her. She was pregnant and wanted to keep the baby, not that I blame her, I feel the same," Hayley said as she placed her hands over her stomach and smiled up at Jason, who merely nodded. "My parents disowned her. They've grown to regret it, but they don't know where she is, I'm the only one that does and they've never asked me to get in touch with her for them. I'm just worried that they'll do the same thing to me."

"There has to be more to this story for you to keep it a secret," Jason said as he could imagine what might have happened if Kim and Tommy had ever taken that step in high school and she had gotten pregnant, but her parents would have never disowned her. He also knew that Hayley usually would have at least told him of her sister, unless it somehow had something to do with him that would make him uncomfortable.

"Yeah, there is, but it's not what made my parents disown her, it just kinda makes me uncomfortable to think about the whole thing. Her boyfriend at the time was Billy," Hayley said as Jason's jaw fell open and he could only stare at Hayley. He could vaguely remember Billy dating someone around that time, but he had never known he was that serious. "He never knew that she was pregnant, I only met him on a freak chance that I got home early from classes one day and then five years later I get introduced to him by Tommy at our graduation. It was weird enough as it was but Billy doesn't need to know this now. He's in a good relationship with Kat, I don't think that needs to be broken apart. I know that he probably wonders why she just skipped town, but also there is no baby for her to bring back to prove anything to him. Maddie had a miscarriage a couple of months into the pregnancy. She tried to come back then, but they wouldn't let her. She couldn't find Billy or anyone really, so she moved in with my mother's parents. Then the day she turned eighteen she left, I get a birthday card, but not much more. I want her to be a part of my life again, though. I want to have my sister back."

"But, Billy was the father? I never saw that one coming," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head in agreement. She could imagine the type of teenager that Billy had been, but the two of them had hit it off, too bad that Maddie never got up the nerve to talk to Billy about it all. She knew that Billy would have supported her, but Maddie must have been scared since her own parents disowned her that her boyfriend would leave her as well.

"You see why my parents might not welcome this with open arms?" Hayley asked as Jason nodded his head and then reached down to hold her hand. He needed to reassure her, because he knew how close she was to her parents and although they had met, her parents didn't know the degree of their relationship. Once they found that out, they might not like him so much anymore.

"My parents won't expect this either; my parents thought I'd never get over Trini. They gave up on grandchildren when I was eighteen. It's going to shock them more than everything that happened back then," Jason said as Hayley noticed the sad look on his face.

"It's okay, I know that you miss her," Hayley said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and he gave her a weak smile. She was so understanding about the problems he was still having from ten years ago, he just wanted to be able to move on and he finally felt like it was the right time.

"No, it's not. She wouldn't have wanted me to quit living when she died. She would have wanted me to have a great life and girlfriends and a wife and children without worrying about her. You're the first person I've even been interested in since I lost her," Jason whispered as he placed his head on her shoulder and placed a kiss on the nape of her neck. "I shouldn't have done this to you."

"Hey, I was a willing participant in it all. Jase, I knew you weren't ready to be serious when it all began and I didn't want to pressure you, I didn't want to scare you away. I was fine with being friends as long as I could have you in my life, surely you realized that," Hayley said as Jason just nodded his head.

"I did and you are what I needed Hayley, I just wanted to hold onto the past too much to realize it. I'm not going to do that anymore, though," Jason said as Hayley smiled up at him and he took the remote out of her hands. "Lets find something that will take our minds off the last few days."

"No, I want to know about it Jase, I need to," Hayley said as Jason gave her a confused look. No one else had ever demanded that the mission be broken down so soon after it was over. He usually had a few days before Tommy would want to congregate and break it all down, in case they ever experienced anything similar to it in the future.

"There's not much to say, Anthony and Katie are married, they saved the planet, she beat the living shit out of us and we came back in one piece. I'm not good at talking about missions. I like to try to forget them once they are over," Jason said as Hayley laughed and he smiled down at her.

"A movie it is. That's the worst synopsis I have ever gotten of a battle and I had to work with Tommy," Hayley said as Jason turned on the television and flipped through the channels, trying to find something they both would agree to.

--------------------

_Oliver Residence_

"So, what do we do now?" Anthony asked as Tommy and Kim had walked up the stairs to go to sleep nearly an hour ago and they had just finished watching some movie on television. He couldn't quite remember the name but for the first movie he had ever watched, it was pretty good.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Katie asked as Anthony looked over at her and then sighed. He was pretty sure that she did not want to hear about it, but she had asked. "That doesn't sound good."

"I'm not like the people here Katie, I saw that tonight. I don't know if I will be able to pull this off, I thought we would be able to but now I don't know," Anthony said as he nervously pulled on his hair and she looked up at him.

"You'll be able to, Andy. You're new and that's all that they'll really look at, at first anyway. If you can get through these next few weeks everything will be fine, it'll all work out," Katie said as Anthony shook his head no. "Why won't it?"

"I don't know anything, not anything that really matters. I understand the English language, mathematics, history, advanced sciences, and several foreign languages, perfectly, but I don't understand the people or the customs or anything that has any real value. I doubt that your friends want to know what the millionth digit of pi is, but I have that sort of information stashed in my memory bank, what I don't have is anything remotely close to social skills or comprehension of the status quo here," Anthony said as Katie looked thoughtfully at the ceiling and then stood up. They were going to go on a little field trip. "Where are you going?"

"You'll see, now come on," Katie said as she picked up her house keys and he followed her out the back door.

"Kate, this isn't a good idea," Anthony said as Katie looked back at him and then walked over to grab his hand and pull him along.

"Tommy sleeps like a log and we're not going very far, I just like coming out here when I have a tough problem to solve," Katie said as Anthony put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

"This is a tough problem?" Anthony surmised as Katie nodded her head yes and then walking into the clearing and abruptly sat down.

"I'm trying to figure out how to explain the human race to you, it's going to take some thinking," Katie said as she looked up at the starlit sky and let out a contented sigh.

"I'm not asking for the entire human race, Kate," Anthony said as he sat down next to her and looked up at the stars as well. "I just want to figure out teenagers."

"That is tougher than the entire human race. One day, they might be perfectly fine with you and then next they hate your guts and some times you don't even do anything to make them," Katie said as Anthony looked over at her. He got the feeling that she had experienced what she was talking about, but from the life that she had lived it didn't surprise him.

"Personal experience?" Anthony asked tentatively as Katie just nodded her head yes.

"I can't say that they will treat you this way, it's just what happened to me at my last school, they didn't exactly welcome me with open arms. It hasn't been bad here, they're pretty accepting," Katie said as Anthony nodded.

"But will they accept me? You know that they probably think or will think that I broke you and Conner apart, which is the truth. You can't tell me that your friends didn't like Conner," Anthony said as Katie sighed and then turned towards him.

"Yeah, they like Conner, but there is no reason that they won't like you, they're my friends," Katie said as Anthony just shook his head. "You don't believe me?"

"Kate, I'm just not sure, I don't know them the way that you do," Anthony said as Katie moved to where she was kneeling in front of him, so that he would have to look at her.

"Trust me, Andy, trust that I know them and that they will accept you, it just may take some time," Katie said as Anthony looked down at the ground, before she tilted his head back up. "You have to trust me."

"I do, believe me, I do, but I don't think this is what those vows meant," Anthony said as he suddenly was blinded by a flashlight and reached up to shadow his eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Katie asked as she turned around and was blinded by the same light. "Okay, I know, bad idea."

"Vows? Now, Katie, you only just met," Angelina said as she lowered the flashlight to where Katie could see her face and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Is it just you?" Katie asked as she looked around. She knew that Anthony was about to go crazy, but he was not leaving her here alone. They both had started reaching for their morphers, but now that Katie knew who it was, she had calmed some. The problem, however, was that she didn't know how much Angelina had heard.

"Nope. Garrett!" Angelina yelled as Garrett came out from behind a tree with a sheepish smile on his face. He had kinda been dragged along on this little trip, but Angelina was sure that Katie would be out here and here she was, she just wasn't alone, like they had expected.

"Shit," Katie said as she covered her face with her hands and felt Anthony gently rub her back. She knew what they had come here for and she knew that there was no way that she could tell them any of it, no matter what she felt inside.

"We're just here to talk," Angelina said as Katie started shaking her head no as her body started shaking. "Are you all right?"

"No," Katie said as Anthony wrapped his arms around her and she quickly let herself fall against him.

"Hey, we just met you...what's going on here? Why are you doing that?" Garrett asked as Anthony rocked Katie back and forth. He knew why she was freaking out, but he also knew that if these were her friends then they would keep their secret, they just had to trust them on that point.

"It's a long story," Anthony said as Katie looked up at him and violently shook her head no. She did not want to tell them everything that had happened over the last week. "Okay, but I think that they'll listen to us, you're the one that trusts them."

"But not about this, you heard Tommy," Katie moaned as Anthony just shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe they were arguing about this.

"Yes, I heard him, but you can't tell me that there is no one out there that knows. Hayley? You ever think about that?" Anthony asked as Katie let out a long sigh and then looked over at Garrett and Angelina who were completely confused. What were they talking about and what did Hayley have to do with this?

"What are you talking about?" Angelina asked as Katie gulped and looked back at Anthony, if he was sure then she was.

"You really want to know?" Katie asked in a scared tone as Angelina sat down on the ground and stared over at her. She hadn't known Katie for a long time, but she had never been this scared before.

"I don't know anymore...is it that bad?" Angelina asked as Katie bit down on her lip and Anthony just looked at her. He didn't know what to tell her to do, but he wanted to make her feel better.

"It's not bad, but I still don't know if I can tell you everything about it," Katie said as Garrett sat down on the other side of Angelina and just looked at Katie.

"Why don't we just start with the vows? We don't have to know about the ranger mission," Garrett said as the both of them looked up in surprise. "Come on, we're not stupid."

"I'm married," Katie whispered as Garrett and Angelina exchanged a glance, that certainly was not expected. They had maybe thought that something had happened on the mission to draw the two of them together, but that wasn't it.

"You're absolutely kidding me, that's not possible," Angelina said as she grabbed their hands and saw no rings.

"It's not a ring," Katie said as she lifted up her shirt and Anthony did the same.

"Oh...my..." Angelina said as she stared at their backs and then reached out to touch the tattoos, hoping they weren't real, but they were. "You're not joking."

"No, I'm not," Katie said as she put down her shirt and then pulled down Anthony's as well. "But all of this has to do with the mission that we went on."

"I don't think we need to know about that," Garrett said as Angelina glared over at him. If they were willing to talk, they should just let them talk. "Lina, it's not our place to know all of this."

"It's Lina now?" Katie asked as she raised her eyebrows at them and they just looked at each other. Neither of them had realized that they had started acting more like a couple and less like friends, but they had had no one to point out what they had been trying to naturally do for years.

"Yeah, I guess so," Garrett said as Angelina smiled over at him and Katie looked over at the two of them. "Are you really going to be okay?"

"Yeah, things are just complicated," Katie said as Anthony just shook his head.

"I have to figure out the complex of human teenagers by the end of this weekend. I don't know how that is going to happen," Anthony said as Angelina and Garrett looked between him and Katie.

"Well, I don't think you'll have too much of a problem, you just come across as shy person and that's not a bad thing. People will probably approach you, not the other way around," Angelina said as Anthony nodded. "I'd be more worried about your relationship."

"Yeah, we know that we can't act like we're together at first..." Katie said as Garrett just shook his head.

"But I can imagine that that is nearly impossible for you to do, for some odd reason," Garrett said with a laugh as Katie and Anthony nodded. "Isn't Dr. O going to be wondering where you are?"

"I don't think so, he's probably dreaming about a peaceful day, on an island, with Kim and no worries," Katie said as Garrett and Angelina nodded. They had gotten the feeling that Dr. Oliver was needing some alone time with a certain someone when they were at the cyberspace. "I think he's quite tired of this life messing with his other one."

"Who wouldn't be after more than a decade at it?" Anthony asked as Katie nodded her head in agreement. She really couldn't blame Tommy for wanting to give it up, but she still liked the idea of being a ranger.

"We better be getting home, my parents will probably call the cops if I keep them waiting much longer," Angelina said as she reached over and gave Katie a hug. "If the two of you need any help, just let me know...and would you mind calling me to let me know if we're practicing on Monday?"

"I'll call you sometime this weekend, bye guys," Katie said as she watched the two of them walk off through the woods and then looked over at Anthony. "You want to get some rest?"

"That would be nice," Anthony said as he stood up and then pulled Katie up. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I should be fine, I'm more worried about how Angelina and Garrett are going to take this. I'm sure they had already figured out that I was a ranger, but I don't think they were betting on something this serious," Katie said as she continued walking towards her home, as Anthony put his arm around her.

"Like you said, they may not like it, but they'll learn to accept it all," Anthony said as Katie smiled up at him and then looked up at the stars one last time. It was so great to be back home, but what was there left in store for them and would they really be able to survive their life once they were no longer rangers?

AN: All right, I think that I'm going to have about four, maybe five more chapters to this story. I'm going to try to tie up all the loose ends and there may be some short one-shots that I post based on this story to help finish some other aspects of the story. Thank you so much for the reviews and input on this story and until next time, toodles!


	53. A New Day

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy) Viktor, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, Alegia, Maddie Viktor, Edward Viktor, Patsy Viktor, Teresa Scott, and Kevin Scott.

"Good morning," Tommy whispered as he buried his face in Kim's hair and let out a contented sigh. He was so glad to be home and back in his own bed with Kim by his side, he just didn't know what to do with himself. Every other time he had finished a mission like this, it had been back to work the next day, but this felt different. This felt like it might really be the end for him and he was ecstatic to feel this way. He was ecstatic to know that he really was at the end of his ranger career.

"Morning," Kim said as she rolled over and looked at Tommy, who had a happy look on his face. He usually did not wake up in a good mood, so she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about to put him in this good of a mood. "You sleep good?"

"I always sleep good with you here," Tommy said as Kim smiled at him and then gave him a kiss on the cheek before scooting out of bed. "Leaving so soon?"

"I thought you'd want some breakfast, goodness knows what is in store for us today. Zordon let us come back too easily, you know that. There's got to be more going on that we don't know about, we still have our powers, for one. I thought we'd lose them right when we got home," Kim said as she walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a fitted shirt, before gathering her hair in a sloppy ponytail.

"Yeah, I thought about that too, but I don't think that we need to ruin Katie, Jason, and Conner's days just yet," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head in agreement. If Zordon didn't contact them, they were not going to mention any of it, but when he did then they were definitely going to have a talk with the others before they went anywhere.

"I agree. Do you know where Conner went last night?" Kim asked, as she had to admit that she was worried about him. He had his girlfriend ripped away from him by a fellow ranger and the both of them seemed happy that it had happened. That was definitely something that was hard to swallow, especially considering how happy the two of them had been.

"He probably went with Kira, Ethan, and Trent, they'll know how to help him get out of this slump that he's in and I can imagine that he'll be dating again soon enough. He doesn't usually stay down on himself for a very long time," Tommy said as he finally rolled out of bed and walked over to put on a pair of shorts over his boxers. It didn't much matter if he walked around without a shirt on, as long as no one just showed up and he doubted that at this time of morning. He knew that most of his friends would definitely sleep in today, especially if they had any sense left in their bodies.

"I'm sure your friends thought that when we were in high school, too, but look at what happened to us," Kim said as Tommy looked up at her, no matter how many times he told her that everything was fine with them, she was going to go back to that situation. He didn't know how to cure her of it, but after ten years, he surely thought that she would be over it as well, especially since he took her back.

"Kim, stop beating yourself up over that, I love you and I'm happy with you and only you. I know you believe me, you have to believe in yourself now, Beautiful," Tommy said as he walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"I know, but Tommy, I still have to live with everything that I've done. I don't know if I'll ever get over it completely," Kim said as they both heard what sounded like knocking and they just looked at each other. It wasn't even nine o'clock in the morning and it was Saturday, why on Earth would someone be here? They both could only imagine that this was not a good thing, but neither of them could have guessed who was on the other side of the door.

"I'll go get it and you go ahead and start on breakfast. It's probably Jason or Conner or Hayley or some other ranger that needs to talk," Tommy said as the two of them went towards the stairs and Kim went to the kitchen, while Tommy walked over to the door and opened it and saw Andie standing there.

"Tommy…I'm so sorry, I didn't think that you would answer in that, I just wanted to make sure that you were all right, obviously you are, I'll just be going now," Andie babbled as Tommy caught her by the wrist and looked down at her. She was worried about him and he was sure that it surprised her that he was not wearing a shirt, but they had to talk. "Tommy, really I can go."

"Come in and let me put on some thing that I can talk to you in," Tommy said as Andie looked at him. She heard pans clanging in the kitchen and she highly doubted, by the fact that there was a third car in the yard, that Tommy was alone. She was not sure that she wanted to meet his new girlfriend right now, when he was in so little clothing. It made too many imaginations pop into her head and each was worse than the last.

"It's obvious you have a guest, I'll go, I really don't mind," Andie said as Kim walked into the living room to ask Tommy where some flour was, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Andie. This must be Tommy's ex and she was sure that the impression she was giving was not exactly the best in the world, considering the fact that she looked rather disheveled.

"Andie, we need to really talk," Tommy said as he noticed that Andie was no longer looking at him, but over his shoulder and he could only imagine that it was at Kim. "Can you go get me a shirt, Kim?"

"Yeah, can you get out the flour for me really quick?" Kim asked as she walked up the stairs and Tommy nodded his head, then closed the door, as Andie just walked over and sat down on the couch. She was in shock to actually see the woman that he had chosen over her, but she was taking Alison's advice and she was going to listen to Tommy, that was all he was asking of her. He was not asking for her to accept it, he just wanted her to know why, even if she didn't like hearing it.

"That's her?" Andie asked as Tommy sat down on the other couch and she looked up at him. He hated that she had met Kim this way, because they had actually been salvaging a friendship, now he was pretty sure that was about to fall apart. The only way he might be able to save any friendship was by being honest with her now, but that was going to be hard.

"Yeah, I was trying to tell you about it when I got lucky enough to keep my job. You kinda threw me out of the office before I could get around to it though," Tommy said as Andie nodded. Alison had warned her about it and now she was seeing just how much Tommy was trying to be the nice guy, it must be hard for him to always try to do that.

"Here you go," Kim said as she tossed him a shirt and she walked into the kitchen to see he had set out the flour. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Tommy said as he smiled towards the kitchen then looked back at Andie. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, Tommy, are you all right?" Andie asked as Tommy let out a sigh. He didn't like the way that this sounded. He did not look like he had been sick, although he did look like he had been beat up, for some odd reason.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tommy said as Andie gave him a curious look and he quickly glanced away.

"Look, Principal Wingard sent me out here yesterday and there were cars, but Zack stopped me from coming in, Tommy what the hell is going on here?" Andie asked as Katie stumbled down the stairs in a sports bra and shorts, which revealed the tattoo on her back as she walked into the kitchen.

"It's not really something that I am able to talk about," Tommy said as he noticed that Andie was staring over at where Katie had been and he suddenly remembered the tattoo and Anthony. That must be something that had gotten her attention and he had no clue how to explain it away. "Shit. Kim!"

"Yeah," Kim said as she walked back into the living room and Tommy looked up at her. There was something going on in his eyes that honestly scared her. "What's wrong?"

"Katie is only in a sports bra, right?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head and then her eyes widened as she looked over at Andie. She must have seen the marking on her back and Andie had to know that although Tommy had a tattoo he wouldn't let his sixteen year old sister get one.

"Shit," Kim said as Katie stumbled back up the stairs, to go back to her room.

"Kate! Just put on a shirt and come back down!" Tommy yelled as Katie walked over to the balcony and glared down at Tommy, then she noticed Andie was sitting on the couch and her eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Katie said as she backed up and placed her hands over her lower back.

"What's going on here?" Andie asked as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance before Kim stood up and walked out of the room. She was not going to be in on this fight if she could help it.

"I can't tell you, I can talk to you about why our relationship failed until I'm blue in the face, but what you are asking is off limits," Tommy said as Katie walked back down and looked over at Tommy. "Go help Kim."

"That is bull shit, Tommy, you can tell me," Andie said as they heard a loud curse from upstairs and Tommy just covered his face as Katie raced up the stairs and dove into her room. There was no telling what Anthony had run into and now he was sure that Andie was not going to leave until she got a straight answer.

"I can't tell you, I can't tell anyone," Tommy said, seriously, as Kim peeked back in and looked between the two of them.

"But she knows?" Andie asked as Tommy hung his head and tried to think of a way to dig himself out of this hole as quickly as possible, but nothing was coming to him right now.

"She's part of the secret and that secret is part of the reason that she came back here," Tommy said as Andie gave him a careful look and just shook her head. If Tommy was not going to tell her what was going on, she couldn't really push him. He had offered to talk about their relationship and that was much more than she thought she would be able to get out of him.

"Okay, Tommy, I'll give you that you can't tell me about whatever it is, but you have to talk about our relationship. Why did it have to end?" Andie asked as Tommy looked down at the floor and then over at Andie.

"It had to end because I didn't love you the way I thought I did. You're a great person and I'm sure that if my parents' hadn't died I would have never started having second thoughts about you. They were the first people that loved me unconditionally and the second person that did is the one that holds my heart. I knew then that I'd rather be alone than not be with the one I couldn't live without. I'm sorry I put you through this, I didn't mean to let it keep going, but I did, for some reason and I don't know what that was," Tommy said as he just shook his head. He was angry with himself for putting her through all of the pain that she was feeling, but he couldn't keep doing what he had been trying to do, which was convince himself that Kim was not right for him.

"So it was you, not me. I didn't do anything to make you change your mind?" Andie asked as Tommy shook his head no and Andie then nodded her head that she understood. "Can I expect you back at school Monday?"

"Yeah, do I still have a job?" Tommy asked as Andie shrugged. She was not sure what Principal Wingard had decided, but she was going to try to keep Tommy there, even if he hadn't told her why he was really absent. "Well a maybe is better than nothing. Do you want to stay and eat breakfast?"

"No, I was heading out to the lake for the day and I just thought I'd stop by and check on you. You have been gone for a week Tommy," Andie said as Tommy nodded as she stood up to let herself out. "Thank you, I'm glad that I know the truth now."

"If you had asked earlier, I would have told you," Tommy said as Andie nodded that she now understood that and she then reached over and gave him a hug before turning to leave.

"Have a good weekend," Andie said as she walked out the door and Tommy stood there for a few seconds, trying to get everything in perspective.

"Can we come out?" Katie asked as she peeked her head out of her door and looked over the balcony at Tommy, as he nodded his head yes.

"Are you all right?" Kim asked as Tommy walked into the kitchen and wrapped both of his arms around Kim. Right now he felt horrible about the way that he had had to explain everything to Andie, but he did feel relieved. She now knew the full truth and she would live with it, one way or another.

"I'll be okay," Tommy whispered as she felt him place his head on top of hers and she could imagine that he had closed his eyes, which he had. She knew that he was living with the decision he made very well, but she got the feeling that he still hated to hurt someone, not that that was a bad thing.

"All right," Kim said as she continued to work on breakfast as Tommy clung to her. She knew he needed some support for some reason and she had to give it to him.

"What are we doing today?" Katie asked as she sat down at the kitchen table and Anthony let out a long yawn, as he sat down in the chair next to her.

"I don't know yet. We may have to go back to Angel Grove to finish some business, but other than that I think we can just rest all day," Kim said as Katie smiled, as Tommy released Kim and then sat down at the kitchen table as well. "How did the two of you sleep?"

"Good," they said in unison as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance.

"We didn't do anything Tommy, I do remember my promise," Katie said as Tommy just nodded his head and walked over to fix himself a cup of coffee.

"I know, but after my first mission, I had nightmares for weeks," Tommy said as he looked back at her and Katie just shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't explain why it was not bothering her, but she was sure that if Tommy had been able to sleep with Kim, he wouldn't have had any nightmares either.

"How do you think Hayley and Jason are doing?" Kim asked as she looked over at Tommy. She had to admit that she was worried about both of them right now, especially since Jason's memories were still haunting him.

"Who knows, I just hope that everything is all right between them," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head. She could only imagine the trouble it would cause if the two of them started having problems right now.

-----------------

_Hayley's Home_

"Jase...Jase," Hayley said as she rolled over and noticed that he was no longer in bed. She had been sure last night that she would notice if he had gotten up and left, but she hadn't. She had to get up and get dressed so she could go into work, although she was not feeling so hot this morning. This pregnancy was not an easy one and she knew that she was going to have to find a manager that she could rely on soon, because there were bound to be days when she couldn't come in. "I'm going to kill him."

"Who do you want to kill? Because, I'm sure that your doctor would suggest against anything of that nature. I believe that falls into the category of overexerting yourself," Jason said as he walked in carrying breakfast and Hayley's eyes lit up in surprise. She was sure that he had left and now she could see why he hadn't been in bed.

"You didn't have to do this, Jason," Hayley said as he handed her the tray and she took a good look at the food. He had obviously stayed away from anything that he thought might be remotely upsetting to her stomach and she was glad about that. She had not been feeling well most of this week, although he didn't know that.

"Yeah, I did, just don't get used to it; it's not going to be an every day occurrence," Jason said with a smile as Hayley sat up and took a bite of the toast.

"What time is it?" Hayley asked, as she had not bothered to look over at the clock, yet.

"Almost ten," Jason said as Hayley almost jumped out of bed, but he held her in place as he hurried on, "I asked Trent to look out for the cyberspace today. You need to get more rest, Hayley, I figured out that much last night."

"So you'll be my servant for a day?" Hayley asked as Jason nodded his head yes and she smiled up at him before giving him a hug. "Do you have anything else up your sleeves, mister?"

"Yeah, I do," Jason said as Hayley looked up at him expectantly. She expected it was good, but she didn't know if she really wanted another surprise. "I've invited our parents here for supper tonight, I want to tell them in person."

"Jase, I don't know if I can take this so soon," Hayley said as Jason sat down on the bed next to her and slipped his arm around her. He knew that she was worried about it, but they had to do this and he would rather do this now. He didn't want to wait until it was obvious that she was pregnant before they told their parents.

"We need to go ahead and do this, Hayley, if we wait any longer it is going to be harder to tell them and there are some other things I need to do," Jason said as Hayley gave him a curious look as she continued to eat her breakfast.

"What do you have to do?" Hayley asked as Jason reached into his pocket and set a box on her breakfast tray. "Jason...you don't have to do this."

"I want to, I should have done this a long time ago Hayley," Jason said as Hayley hesitantly opened the box and then reached over to give Jason another happy hug. "So you will?"

"Of course, Jason," Hayley said as she looked up at him and saw the concern in his eyes. "You were really worried that I wouldn't want to marry you?"

"Yeah, there was always a chance that you wouldn't want to get married," Jason said as Hayley looked over at him and just laughed. "It's not funny, Hayley."

"I know and you're not the first man that has ever had doubts about it, but you knew how I felt long before you asked," Hayley said as Jason nodded his head that that was quite true. "It's all right, Jason, it's part of what I love about you."

"If you can love that flaw in me, then I don't know why I've been so worried," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head in agreement and Jason then took a piece of toast for himself.

"How do you think the others are?" Hayley asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders, he could imagine how Tommy and Kim were feeling, but he had no clue about the rest of them. He could only take a wild guess about what was happening to them right now.

"I think that they'll be all right, for the most part. You know how we all have things that haunt us from missions like this, you've been around Tommy long enough to figure that out," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head in agreement, then leaned against his shoulder. She was quite content to stay like this, but of course Jason's communicator had to go off. "Damn."

"You can say that again," Hayley said as she pushed her breakfast away and walked over to her closet so that she could put on some clothes.

"Yes, Zordon?" Jason asked as he looked down at the communicator, hoping it was not Zordon or Billy.

"Guess again," Billy said as he heard Jason sigh and he could only manage a grimace on the other side. His friends were going to be positively pissed at him when they found everything out about their powers. He hadn't known anything about them until Zordon came back and now they were just going to have to live with them.

"Let me guess, all of us are going to be teleported to the Command Center," Jason said as Hayley walked over and grabbed his hand. She was not going to be left alone here this time, she was going with him, no matter what.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that Jason," Billy said as he pressed in the teleportation code and the five rangers, plus several others landed in front of him. "I expected you to come alone."

"There was no way in hell I was letting him come alone again," Hayley said, as she released Jason's hand, while the former Dino Rangers struggled not to laugh at Hayley's reaction.

"And we wanted to make sure that Conner was going to be all right," Kira said as she glared over at Billy as well.

"I don't have an excuse," Anthony said as Katie laughed, which brought many of them out of their melancholy.

"Why are we here?" Jason asked as he looked over at Billy. He surely knew what was going on here, he just wasn't saying anything about it to them yet.

"Jason, you know that it was all too easy last night. There is no other evil that we know of in the universe and for some reason, we still have our powers," Tommy said as the other three rangers exchanged a glance and then began shaking their heads.

"I'm not going on another mission," Jason said as Tommy looked over at him. He didn't blame Jason for feeling this way, especially with how his life was going right now.

"I'm not asking you to do that," Zordon said as he entered the Command Center and they all looked over at him. Something about his tone of voice scared them. "The powers are yours until another is in need of them."

"Okay, but why does that sound like a bad thing?" Katie asked as Anthony looked between her and Conner. The longer the two of them held their powers, the more they were going to hurt them, as they were not following what the powers wanted.

"The way the powers affect us," Conner said, quietly, as he looked over at Katie. They had seen what had happened to Kim and Tommy while they were apart; it was bound to happen to the two of them as well.

"That is correct Conner. In order to be able to save Eltar, the rules of these powers had to be broken, but the affects will become more obvious as time goes on. The two of you are definitely going to begin feeling it very soon," Zordon said as Katie just shook her head and looked back at Anthony.

"And I'll start playing with my evil side even more," Kim said as Zordon nodded his head yes and Tommy looked down at Kimberly. "So we're just stuck?"

"In a way," Billy said as he walked over to his fellow rangers and pulled Kimberly, Jason, and Tommy together. "The three of you, however, should be able to live normally with few side affects."

"What about us?" Katie asked as she looked over at Conner. Sure she expected that some things were going to go wrong, but she didn't like the way it sounded.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better," Zordon said as Katie glanced over at Conner and he just shook his head. Neither of them wanted to hear that, but they would accept it, considering the circumstances.

"So, like Kim said, we're stuck?" Conner asked as Zordon sadly nodded his head yes and Conner just shook his head in disbelief. He had been sure that these powers would just leave them as soon as they were through with them, not that they would store them in their bodies until they needed to be taken somewhere.

"Will it be as painful as what happened on Eltar?" Katie asked, as Zordon looked over at her and saw the dead look in her eyes as she remembered it all.

"I'm afraid so, these powers like to cling to their human sources," Zordon said as Anthony wrapped his arms around Katie, as she looked close to fainting.

"Is this all?" Tommy asked as Zordon nodded his head yes and Tommy looked over at his fellow rangers, then back at Zordon. "Are we allowed to go home and try to take this in?"

"Yes, Tommy," Zordon said as Billy punched in the teleportation sequence that sent them away to Reefside. "You may go as well, Billy, the rangers are not going to need you as support staff any longer. They are going to need you as a friend."

"Yes, Zordon," Billy said as he punched in his own teleportation code that would send him home.

"Now it is time that I truly begin my work," Zordon said as he looked around the Command Center. Although these rangers were through with their duties, he was sure that they would not be his last rangers, by any means.

----------------

_Hayley's Home (evening)_

"Hayley, you look fine," Jason said as Hayley came out in yet another skirt and fitted shirt. Their parents were due to be here in the next ten minutes and Hayley was worried about tonight, to say the least. "I promise."

"Jase, I don't want them to even be able to guess it," Hayley said as she looked in the mirror and Jason wrapped his arms around her and settled his head down on her shoulder.

"You're not showing any, honey," Jason said as Hayley looked over at him as he gave her a smile.

"Thanks for reassuring me about that," Hayley said as Jason continued to hold onto her and she settled back against him. "You know, I could really get used to you being here every day."

"About that," Jason said as Hayley looked back at him and then settled herself back in her other position. "Tommy is looking to expand his dojo and he needs another teacher, so I'm thinking about taking the job. I can sell mine and I'll get to be here."

"You're serious? You're going to be living here soon?" Hayley asked as she spun around to face him and Jason merely nodded his head yes, as she gave him a kiss, before they heard the doorbell ring. "I better get it, it is my house after all."

"Yeah and Hayley...it's all going to be fine," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head as she continued towards the door.

"Hayley! It's so good to see you!" Patsy said as she gave her daughter a hug and smiled up at her. "I was surprised to get the call this morning, it's been awhile since you've had us up here."

"Well, it was about time that I invited you up again. I've been letting it get away from me," Hayley said as she walked over and gave her father a hug as well as the Scott's pulled up in the driveway.

"Who else is joining us?" Edward asked as Hayley looked up at him.

"The Scott's, my boyfriend's parents," Hayley said as Edward gave her a curious look. She hadn't mentioned a boyfriend, but they didn't necessarily like talking about relationships, especially after what had happened with Maddie.

"When did that happen?" Edward asked as Hayley shrugged her shoulders and then released her father so that she could welcome the Scott's as well.

"Nice to see you again, Hayley," Teresa said as she gave Hayley a hug. "What is my son up to?"

"I'm not sure, Mrs. Scott," Hayley said as Teresa gave her a confused look before she just shook her head. She was sure that they would find out what Jason was doing all in due time. "Come on in."

"Mom, Dad," Jason said as he saw them walk in and he walked over to give the both of them hugs. "You find your way all right?"

"You gave good directions, for once," Kevin said as Jason smiled over at him. He knew what his father was insinuating, but he was not going to confirm or deny it in front of Hayley's parents.

"Supper will be ready in a little bit, make yourselves comfortable," Hayley said as she grabbed Jason and pulled him into the kitchen with her.

"I guess we're doing our own introductions," Kevin said as Teresa nodded her head in agreement. She could tell by the way that Jason was acting that something was going on, she just didn't know what it might be. "We're Kevin and Teresa Scott."

"Edward and Patsy Viktor," Patsy said as the Scotts' settled themselves on the other couch. "How do they know each other?"

"I can only guess they met through Tommy," Teresa said as Patsy nodded her head and they soon fell into conversation about their children and their jobs.

"So, you watch sports?" Edward asked as Kevin nodded his head that he indeed did and thus, they fell into their own conversation as well.

"You okay?" Jason asked as Hayley sat down on one of her kitchen chairs and took in a deep breath. "Hayley..."

"I think that I'll be fine Jase, I just need to get something to eat," Hayley said as Jason gave her another concerned look before he walked over to the cabinet and pulled out some crackers and peanut butter. He then quickly fixed a couple of peanut butter crackers and handed them to Hayley.

"That should last you until we really eat," Jason said as Hayley merely nodded, while Jason pulled the chicken out of the oven and the rice out of the microwave. "Are you sure?"

"Give me a few minutes before you go get them," Hayley whispered as she slumped down in the chair and Jason walked over and wrapped both of his arms around her.

"We've got to get this under control," Jason whispered, as Hayley merely nodded her head as she rested it on his shoulder. He was perfectly fine with letting her stay like that as long as she wanted to if it made her feel better.

"Oh, Jase, I'm not sure I'm up to it," Hayley whispered as Jason looked down at her and gently placed a kiss on her cheek.

"We'll both feel better once they know the truth, Hayley," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head in agreement, the problem, however, was that she was feeling horrible right now.

"Go ahead and finish up supper and then we can go get them," Hayley said as she released him from her grip and leaned back in her chair.

"What did those tests say?" Jason asked as he placed the food on the table and looked over at Hayley. He hadn't thought anything about them since he had been gone for the last few days, but now that he could think clearly he realized how important they were.

"I haven't gotten the results yet, I didn't want to go in without you," Hayley said, worriedly, as Jason looked over at her and nodded. Everything was ready for supper, he just hoped that Hayley could handle it all.

"We'll go as soon as you can next week," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head in agreement and he then walked over next to her. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Hayley said as she stood up and gripped his hand, as she suddenly felt dizzy.

"Maybe you should just sit down at the table and I'll go get them," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head as they walked over to the table and she sat down in her normal seat.

"Is supper ready?" Teresa asked as Jason nodded his head and then walked back into the kitchen. He did not like the look that his mother was giving him right now. She seemed to have some sort of idea about what was going on and that did not comfort him any.

"Well, why were we brought here?" Patsy asked as Hayley gripped Jason's hand under the table and tried not to allow her facial expression to betray her.

"No particular reason," Hayley said as Jason's parents gave him a curious look. The food had been wonderful and everything seemed to be going well, but the both of them had been tense the entire night.

"Oh come on, you wouldn't have just called us out of the blue for nothing, Jase," Kevin said as Jason picked up Hayley's and his own plate and took them over to the sink.

"I'd rather tell you in the living room," Jason said, as he wanted to get as far away from the lethal objects as he could manage. Hayley's parents didn't even know him and they were about to find out that he had gotten their daughter pregnant.

"I'll be in there in a minute," Hayley said as her parents gave her an odd look as she scooted back her chair and then looked over at Jason. "I guess it's now or never."

"Yeah," Jason said as he helped her stand up and they walked into the living room and sat down in a plush chair.

"Well, what did you bring us here for?" Edward asked, as he did not like the look on Hayley's face, at all. He had seen that look on his other daughter's face and that had not been a good thing.

"We have some news," Jason began as his parents began shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Oh, Jason, I never thought...of course this isn't how I thought it would happen...oh, my goodness," Teresa rambled as four of the adults looked at her, half comprehending what he was talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Patsy asked as Hayley let out a long sigh and looked over at her mother. Yes, she was only two years short of being thirty, but she was still scared to tell her parents about this.

"We're going to have a baby," Hayley said as her parents could only stare at her, while Jason's parents hurried over to give both of them hugs.

"Hayley, I never thought that you would be like this too," Edward said as Jason looked over at her parents, as his mother jerked up from giving Hayley a hug and glared at them. No, this was not wonderful, but they were adults and she had given up on grandchildren so long ago, it was hard to believe it might be a reality again.

"We know that it's not the best of circumstances, but we are going to get married, soon," Jason said as Edward just shook his head and Patsy dissolved into tears.

"Marriage comes before children," Edward said as Hayley dissolved into tears of her own, as Jason gathered her in his arms. He did not want for her worries to come true, he didn't want for her to feel as if they didn't accept her anymore.

"I'm not losing another child, Ed, I can't do it," Patsy sobbed as Edward looked down at her, while Hayley looked up at the two of them. "We should have tried to be understanding with Maddie; we have our chance to make it right now."

"Patsy, it's not right," Edward said as Patsy nodded her head in agreement.

"I know that it is not right, but she's our daughter and that's our grandchild she's carrying. I don't think we can do it again," Patsy said as Edward looked over at her and then glanced up at Hayley.

"You know I don't like this, Hayley, but we love you anyway," Edward said, as Hayley looked over at her father, completely surprised.

"Dad," Hayley murmured as she was released from Jason's grasp and then walked over to give her father a hug. "You're not going to disown me?"

"Not tonight, Hayley," Edward said with a wry smile as Hayley smiled up at him and then gave him another bone crushing hug. "How is your sister?"

"I'm not sure, her cards don't say much," Hayley said as Edward nodded his head and she then let him go. She didn't feel quite right again and she knew Jason could tell it.

"You okay?" Jason asked, as Hayley hastily shook her head no, before she placed her head against the side of the couch. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"Have you been to the doctor?" Patsy asked, worriedly, as Hayley nodded her head yes, as Jason gently picked her up. "What did they say?"

"That she needs to rest and not overly stress herself," Jason said as he walked towards their bedroom and then gently put her down on the bed. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I know, Jase, just assure them that I'm fine," Hayley said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek then nodded his head that he would.

"She'll be all right?" Teresa asked as Jason nodded his head yes and then sat down in between his parents.

"I know that I'm not your favorite person right now, but I promise I won't treat her wrong," Jason said as Hayley's parents nodded, as they continued to take it in. "I really don't want to leave her alone right now, though."

"That's fine, we'll go on home, we know that she's under enough stress as is," Patsy said as she stood and walked over to Jason to give him a hug. "Take care of our baby."

"I will, good-bye," Jason said as he shook Edward's hand and they then walked out of the house without another word.

"Take care of yourself too, Jason. I know that you get stressed too," Teresa said as she gave her son a hug and he nodded his head in agreement. "We'll see you soon. Let us know when you are going to get married and I might suggest that you do this sooner, rather than later."

"I will Mom, bye," Jason said as he gave his father a hug and then watched them walk out of the house. "Hey."

"I'm cold," Hayley murmured as Jason kicked off his shoes and then climbed into bed behind her.

"Do I need to take you to the hospital?" Jason asked as he wrapped his arms around her and felt her shiver against him, although her skin felt hot to his touch. "You're sick, honey."

"I know, I've felt like I was coming down with something all week," Hayley said as Jason held her even closer and she then turned to face him. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

"No, you need me here," Jason said as Hayley fell into a fitful sleep at his side as he stayed up for several more hours, watching her struggle to sleep. This last night had gone better than he imagined it would, but there was still so much more he needed to do and he just wondered if Hayley was going to feel up to any of it in the near future.

AN: I hope that you like this chapter and tell me what you think about it. Toodles!


	54. Saving Tommy's Job

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy) Viktor, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, Alegia, Maddie Viktor, Edward Viktor, Patsy Viktor, Teresa Scott, Kevin Scott, and Mrs. Henderson.

_Monday Morning_

_Hayley's_

"I think we need to go to the doctor," Jason said as he felt Hayley shivering next to him. Her fever had broken during the day Saturday, but it had come back with a vengeance overnight and no matter what Hayley wanted to do, Jason knew that they had to be careful now. There were way too many things that could happen right now.

"It'll pass," Hayley said, as her teeth chattered and Jason gave her a skeptical look. He had believed it on Friday night, but he certainly did not believe it now.

"I'm calling your doctor and I'm going to try to get you an appointment as soon as I can," Jason said as Hayley sat up, to try to go put on some clothes, but then quickly laid back down and covered herself back up.

"Who's going to look after the cyberspace?" Hayley asked, as Jason looked over at her, surprised that she could be concerned about her business when she was obviously sick.

"I'm more worried about your health than the cyberspace," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head that she understood his reasoning. "You want to take a warm bath?"

"I just want to stay in bed," Hayley said, honestly, as Jason nodded and then walked out of their room to go find her address book. He was sure that she kept the phone number in there. "Jase…don't go."

"Is something else wrong?" Jason asked as he walked back over to her and kneeled down beside the bed. "Hayley…"

"I don't think we have the time to wait for an appointment, Jase," Hayley murmured as Jason nodded his head and then picked her up out of the bed blankets and all. He knew that Hayley must have been feeling horrible if she said that and he could only hope that he would be able to get her to the hospital in time.

_Oliver Residence_

"Come on, Andy, wake up," Katie groaned as she shook his shoulder rather roughly. She had been trying for the past ten minutes to get him to wake up and he was still completely zonked out. "Andy! Come on!"

"Kate, go take a shower, I'll get him up," Tommy said as he walked in wearing khakis and a stripped button up shirt. He was not going to try to go overboard today, he just wanted to try to keep his job.

"I don't know if you should try to do that," Katie said as Tommy gave her a final look before picking her up and carrying her out of the room and placing her in the bathroom. "Tommy! Uh."

"I know, but if you don't get in the shower now, I don't think I'll make it in on time," Tommy said as Katie just shook her head and closed the door in his face. He then felt someone snake their arms around him and he looked down at her with a smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine, Tommy, she having trouble getting Anthony to wake up?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and Kim just smiled. "I'll wake him, you go finish getting your stuff together."

"Are you sure? None of us knows how he is when he wakes up," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head and pointed towards the stairs, which he quickly headed towards.

"Andy…come on, get up," Kim said as she turned on the lights and then ripped the covers off of the boy. He, however, lay there still and Kim looked around the room to see if there was anything that might wake him up. "Andy! Get up! Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"What's going on?" Anthony murmured as he shaded his eyes and looked up at Kim, who was giving him an odd glare. "What time is it?"

"Seven o'clock," Kim said as Anthony nodded his head and then sat up and noticed that the covers were now on the floor.

"Why are the covers on the floor?" Anthony asked as he gave Kim an odd look and he walked over to Katie's closet to dig through the clothes that Kim and Katie had gotten for him yesterday.

"I was trying to wake you up," Kim said as Anthony just shook his head and laughed. "What are you laughing for? You almost overslept."

"I can make my body understand what time I wish to get up, I said seven o'clock and I woke up at seven o'clock," Anthony said as Kim shook her head in utter disbelief as Anthony pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt. "Are you going to watch me change?"

"No, I'll be going," Kim said as she walked out of Katie's room, still in shock. What else could this boy do that they didn't know about? "Why aren't you gone?"

"Usually Katie and I ride together," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. "What's that look for?"

"Katie will be to school on time, Tommy, you need to go on in and get this over with," Kim said as Tommy nodded his head, then reached over and gave her a quick hug.

"I have a class at the dojo this afternoon if you want to stop by," Tommy said as Kim nodded her head. She was planning on going to her building and working on getting it better equipped. She was happy with everything that she had right now, but she was not happy that she had not been able to get a steady stream of clients, she had to thank being a ranger for that one.

"Where's he going?" Anthony asked as he sat down at the kitchen table and looked down at his clothes. "Are you sure that this is what people wear here?"

"Yeah, believe me, we could have gone to some extremes, but we decided to be nice to you," Kim said as Anthony looked at her and just shook his head. This seemed like an extreme to him, but Kim was sure that he was going to see lots of things today that he wouldn't expect.

"This is nice?" Anthony asked as Kim nodded her head and set down a plate of toast in front of him. "I take your word for it, but if it isn't I'm coming after the two of you this afternoon."

"Andy, by this afternoon, we'll be the least of your worries," Kim said as Katie walked downstairs in her towel to get a pair of jeans out of the dryer.

"I'm never going to get used to that," Anthony said as he stared at Katie's back and Kim just shook her head. She had never asked Tommy about it, but she was sure that he hadn't gotten used to it either, although they had known each other for so long.

"I'm sure that you're not the only man that has ever felt that way," Kim said as Anthony snapped back to reality as Katie smiled over at him before running back up the stairs.

"Yeah, but I know that at this age it's odd," Anthony said as Kim nodded her head in agreement, although Tommy had been the same way. Maybe the two of them really should sit down and talk to each other; they probably would be able to help each other out.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, just make it through the day and try not to be too obvious about it," Kim said as Katie ran downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table. Her hair was not completely dry, but it at least looked like it was dry. "Tommy mentioned something about having class this afternoon...do you need anything?"

"I'll run up and get it after I eat," Katie said as she poured herself a glass of orange juice and gulped it down as both Anthony and Kim stared at her. "I have a shit load of make-up work to get done if I have any hopes of even getting through this year."

"Since she said that, no cursing at school. The teachers don't like it," Kim said as Anthony nodded his head, as Katie stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth and then ran upstairs.

"I have the feeling I am going to be cussed out for something soon, I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure something is going to happen," Anthony said as Kim sadly nodded her agreement as Katie bounded down the stairs and ran out the door.

"Are you coming?" Katie asked as she peeked her head back inside, as Anthony nodded his head and stood up from the kitchen table, just shaking his head. "Come on, I gotta make sure Tommy still has a job."

---------------

"I'm glad to see that you have recovered, Dr. Oliver," Principal Wingard said as Tommy jumped and managed to throw his books up in the air. He had hoped to make it through the hallway without being spotted, but he had had no such luck. "Worried are you?"

"Yeah," Tommy said as he crouched down to pick up his books and Principal Wingard looked over him. Something about him didn't seem quite right, but he was not sure what that could be.

"Go drop that off in your room, then come to my office Dr. Oliver," Principal Wingard said as Tommy just nodded his head as he finished picking up his books. Well, at least he had not been thrown off school campus the second he had arrived, but he was sure that he didn't like the way Principal Wingard sounded.

"Tommy, you're back?" Anderson asked as he walked by him in the hall.

"I'm here, I'm not sure that means I still have a job though," Tommy said as he opened the door to his classroom and looked around in shock. It had been destroyed, not just slightly messed up, destroyed. What the hell had happened here? "If I still have a job, I'm going to have to have a serious conversation about this substitute."

"Whoa," Anderson said as he peeked inside and saw several posters hanging from the walls, as well as a crumpled skeleton. This was going to be a lot of fun to clean up. "You know the kids didn't like the sub."

"So they ruined my room," Tommy said with a slight shake of his head. "I'll get it back together soon enough, I'm sure that some of the kids will want to help me."

"Yeah, if you get to stay," Anderson said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "So, what was really going on, Tommy?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Tommy said as Anderson nodded his head. In the past few years he had learned to accept that his friend led a rather mysterious life, to say the least about the matter.

"I thought it was one of those things," Anderson said as they reached the office and Tommy just looked at the door. He had been in hot water before, but he was afraid that he was in boiling water now. "It's not going to make it any better."

"And it won't make it go away either, I better get this over with," Tommy said as he opened the door and Andie smiled up at him.

"You feeling better?" Andie asked as she passed Tommy the clipboard to let him sign in and he just nodded his head yes. "Go on in and good luck."

"He's going to need it," Anderson said as Andie nodded and then looked back at the closed door.

"Dr. Oliver, sit," Principal Wingard said, rather roughly, as Tommy nodded his head and immediately sat down in a seat across from Principal Wingard. "I want the truth, Oliver, because I am afraid that is the only thing that will save your career at this high school."

"You wouldn't believe the truth and I'm bound to not tell it, to be honest with you," Tommy said as Principal Wingard gave him an odd look.

"Sounds like you'll lose your job then, Dr. Oliver," Principal Wingard said as Tommy just shook his head and then stood up to leave. "You're not going to put up fight?"

"I've already put up a fight for something else, I did my job, if I have to lose this one, so be it, I've done what I need to do," Tommy said as Principal Wingard's mouth dropped open and he quickly moved between Tommy and the door. "I'll go get my things; it'll all work out."

"Hold on, you said you've already put up a fight? Dr. Oliver, that certainly does not sound good," Principal Wingard said as Tommy just shrugged his shoulders and tried to move Principal Wingard out of the way. He, however, was stubbornly glued to the door and did not look like he was going to move anytime soon.

"I can't explain my fight, but it goes with another job I have," Tommy said as he backed away and resigned himself to talk as vaguely as possible until he was allowed to leave. This was information that he could not give up, no matter what was at stake.

"At the dojo? You had to fight someone?" Principal Wingard asked as Tommy just shook his head and propped himself on the back of a chair. Although that might seem like an obvious answer, it was not in his life.

"I would have liked fighting at the dojo much better than what I had to do," Tommy said as Principal Wingard gave him an extremely odd look.

"What did you have to do?" Principal Wingard asked as Tommy covered his face and smiled.

"We're back to what I can't talk about," Tommy said as Principal Wingard walked out into the outer office and grabbed Alison, maybe she could help out, someway.

"You knew him, I don't want to fire him, so get it out of him," Principal Wingard said as he shoved Alison towards Tommy and he quickly caught her and gave her a smile, this was going to be tons of fun.

"Principal Wingard, I don't think you need to know whatever it is that he can't tell you," Alison said as she turned around to face him and Tommy gave her an odd look. Had Andie told her what she had seen and Alison had finally put the pieces together or had she put the pieces together much earlier but just kept her mouth shut about it?

"Oliver, you have to tell me," Principal Wingard said, as Tommy just shook his head no. He honestly was not scared by any threats that his boss made.

"Principal Wingard, with all due respect, either I'm staying or I'm wasting your time right now. If you trust that I was really doing something that had a bigger purpose, then I guess I have a job, if you don't I need to go get all of my things so that my replacement can have the job of cleaning up my room which she let be destroyed," Tommy said as he took a step towards the door.

"Fine Oliver, you get to keep your job," Principal Wingard said as he sat down behind his desk, while Tommy and Alison exchanged a glance as Tommy wrapped her up in happy hug.

"Thank you so much," Tommy said happily as he exited the office and let out a loud whoop, which caused Andie and Anderson to look over at him, as he jumped up and down.

"I guess you get to keep your job," Andie said carefully, as Tommy walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he wrapped her up in a bear hug.

"Thank you so much," Tommy said as Anderson looked at the two of them and then gave Tommy a very disgruntled look. "I have to get to my classroom, since my classes so nicely destroyed it."

"You think that he's going to figure it out?" Anderson asked as Andie nodded her head as Alison walked back out with a smile on her face.

"That's the Tommy Oliver I know. I didn't think that he still had the skills to lie himself out of a situation though," Alison said as Andie laughed.

"I'm afraid that the pinch of truth with the pack of lies will always work for Tommy," Andie said as Alison nodded. "Do you think that I should call his girlfriend and let her know?"

"No, I imagine that is what Tommy is doing right now," Alison said as Andie nodded as Anderson looked between the two of them. "Do you think that he's really done?"

"I hope so, for everyone's sake," Andie said as Alison and Anderson nodded, as Katie burst through the office door.

"Does he still have his job?" Katie asked as she placed her hands on the desk and gasped for breath. Anthony had not exactly sprinted after her, as he was still kinda overwhelmed about the building.

"You need to go ask him about that," Anderson said as Katie glared up at him and then ran back out of the office.

"What's going on?" Anthony asked as Katie ran past him and he watched her continue to run down the hall. "I need to get my schedule."

"You're Hayley's cousin, aren't you?" Andie asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and Andie printed out a copy of his schedule.

"I'll take you to Tommy's room," Anderson said as Anthony just nodded his head and followed Anderson out of the room.

"He kinda reminds me of Tommy when he was younger," Alison said as she watched Anthony exit. "Damn shame he wasn't around back then."

"Alison," Andie said as Alison just laughed.

"If we had had a Tommy Oliver in my grade, I would have been very happy, but Kim got him first. The rest of us just had to sit back and watch," Alison said as Andie nodded her head. She now understood that Tommy had never been anyone else's no matter what she thought.

"So, where did you come from?" Anderson asked as they walked down the hall towards Tommy's room.

"Texas," Anthony said, as he had had a chance to glimpse over all of the information that Hayley had given the school last night.

"Did you like it there?" Anderson asked as Anthony nodded his head yes and he could hear Katie shrieking down the hall.

"I hope that means good news," Anthony said as Anderson looked over at him before shaking his head. He knew something was going on, he just couldn't figure out what it might be.

"You've got your job!" Katie shrieked as she gave him a hug and Tommy stumbled backwards as Anthony and Anderson walked in.

"Yes, my room, is another story," Tommy said as Katie looked around and as she did her eyes became bigger and her mouth dropped open.

"What the hell was that substitute thinking?" Katie asked as Tommy shook his head, as Anthony and Anderson both covered their mouths to try to prevent their laughter.

"I don't know, but I need to straighten it up some before all of my students get here," Tommy said as Katie just nodded and then looked over at Anthony and Anderson.

"I'll show Andy around, Mr. Marks," Katie said as Anderson looked between the two of them then nodded his head.

"I think I am the luckiest man alive," Tommy said as Anderson nodded his head in agreement. He knew that if he had gone in there after being gone for about two weeks of the first six of the school year, he would be fired before he got through the door.

"Or one of the unluckiest," Anderson said as Tommy gave him a confused look. How could he be unlucky right now? "Other areas of your life Tommy. It seems like you have to have some things go good because some things are so bad."

"Well, everyone has that happen in their life sometime," Tommy said as Anderson just looked at him. "Okay, so maybe I have it happen more often, but it's not a big deal. It's been like this for years."

"So, you're used to it," Anderson said as Tommy nodded his head and Anderson then sat down on one of the desks. "You know the rumors that are going around."

"What's that?" Tommy asked as he propped against his own desk. He could only imagine what types of rumors might be floating around.

"That you went off and got married this last week," Anderson said as Tommy laughed and shook his head no.

"I wish I would have been at a wedding, even if it wasn't my own this last week," Tommy said as Anderson looked over at him.

"So what were you really doing?" Anderson asked as Tommy stood up and walked over to tape a poster back up on the wall.

"It's not something that I can explain, to anyone," Tommy said as Anderson just shook his head.

"Well, at least they weren't spreading rumors about you being a Power Ranger," Anderson said as Tommy looked over at him, with wide eyes.

"Who else knows?" Tommy asked as Anderson smiled over at him.

"I think just Angelina and Garrett, they were the ones that gave me the idea, plus I don't think most of your classes have the balls to ask about it," Anderson said as Tommy just shook his head and sat down on the desk nearest to him.

"I better warn Kim and Jase, the two of them really don't need any rumors started about them when they are moving here," Tommy said as the bell rang and he looked over at Anderson. "That seems early."

"Homeroom, today, Tommy. I don't know why though," Anderson said as he walked out of the room and walked down the hall to his own.

"Dr. Oliver, you're back!" Angelina exclaimed as she walked into his classroom and Tommy gave her a smile. "Where's Katie?"

"Probably showing Andy to his homeroom," Tommy said as Angelina nodded and then went to sit down in her normal seat.

"Do you know why we're here?" Angelina asked, as Tommy shook his head no.

"But I do have some things to say to this class and every other class I have today," Tommy said as Angelina looked around the room and nodded.

"We did it to try to get the substitute to just leave," Angelina said as Mrs. Henderson walked into Tommy's room with books in hand.

"Who are you?" Mrs. Henderson asked as Tommy walked over and took his books out of her hands.

"I'm Dr. Oliver, I'm afraid that your assistance is no longer needed and thank you so much for keeping my room in such wonderful condition," Tommy said with a smile as Mrs. Henderson glared up at him.

"I don't know how you deal with these hellions," Mrs. Henderson said as Tommy smiled as he walked her over to the doors.

"They're not hellions for me, unlike you, I know how to control a class," Tommy said as Mrs. Henderson just shook her head at him as she stalked out of her room.

"Dr. Oliver, are you all right?" Garrett asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and looked over as Katie walked through the door, with a smile on her face.

"It's never good when you're that happy," Angelina said as Katie just sat down in her seat and turned to face Tommy, it was going to be a wonderful day, no matter what else happened.

-----------------------

_Hospital_

"How is she?" Jason asked as Dr. Vestwick walked out and sat down in the chair next to Jason.

"She's all right, right now, Jason, but I can't tell you what is going on with her," Dr. Vestwick said as Jason covered his face and nodded. "Have things been stressful for her lately?"

"Yeah, that's partially my fault. I've been gone for the last week and I haven't been able to help her any," Jason said as Dr. Vestwick nodded. He had been able to get that much out of Hayley already.

"But it is not only stress, there is something else going on, I've taken some blood and we're doing some tests, but I don't think she should go home yet. If it turns out to be a virus, I'll send her home, but right now I think we need to be on the safe side," Dr. Vestwick said as Jason nodded.

"Can I go in?" Jason asked as Dr. Vestwick nodded his head and Jason stood to go to Hayley's room.

"Hey, Jase," Hayley said, weakly, as Jason sat down next to the bed and reached over to hold her hand.

"Hey yourself," Jason said as Hayley's face began to crumple and he reached over to give her a hug. "It's going to be fine Hayley, I promise."

"I don't know, Jase. I don't know if we'll be able to do this," Hayley whispered as Jason reached for the bar between them and quickly lowered it.

"We'll be able to, Hayley. We just have to figure out what is going on, honey," Jason reassured as he crawled onto the bed and placed her in his lap.

"I don't know what it could be Jase, everything that I've thought of wouldn't be making me feel like this," Hayley said as Jason nodded his head.

"Hayley, you have to try not to stress right now, I know it's hard but maybe it will help," Jason said as Hayley glared at him and he then glanced away to gain his composure. "I know I didn't help the situation any, but I didn't have a choice about that, I'm trying to do what I can, Hayley."

"But I haven't been doing anything that is too stressful, I've just been going to work," Hayley said as she leaned back against the pillow.

"That's stressful enough, when I walked in on Friday, you looked like you were ready to throw all of them out. Hayley, do any of them know?" Jason asked as Hayley shook her head no and Jason looked up at her. "You don't want to tell them until we're married, right?"

"Yeah, I would kinda like to be able to put it off until then," Hayley said as Jason just shook his head. "I don't think that it's going to happen either."

"I'm not saying it won't, but I think that they would help you out more. Right now they just think you are in a bad mood for no reason," Jason said as Hayley just shook her head.

"Yeah, you're right, but I'm going to have to get out of here first," Hayley said as Jason just nodded his head in agreement. "I don't know why they just can't call me when they get the test results."

"Because you fainted on the way over here and that's not really normal for someone who is just going on with their normal life," Jason said as Hayley looked up at the ceiling.

"I guess that Trini never had these problems," Hayley said as Jason nodded his head yes.

"She had different ones though. She had a hard time sleeping and she wasn't able to eat much of anything, but that was it for her," Jason said as Hayley just shook her head.

"I wish that was the only problem that I had, but I can't seem to get through a couple of weeks without fainting. I just don't know what's wrong with me. This doesn't happen to most women," Hayley blurted out as Jason sat at her shoulder and put his arm around her.

"Yeah, but that's why we're here, I'm sure that they'll figure out what it is, Hayley," Jason said as Hayley nodded her head and then let out a long sigh.

"I guess we should at least call our parents," Hayley said, as Jason shook his head no. "Why not? They'd want to know about what's happening."

"I think we should call them after everything has been straightened out, there's no need to worry them until we know everything," Jason said as Hayley could only agree. She knew that her parents were already worried about her, she didn't want to add anything else to them unless it was necessary. "Get some rest, Hayley."

"I'm not tired Jason," Hayley said as she leaned her head on his shoulder and gazed up at the fluorescent ceiling light. "I just want to know what is wrong with me."

"They'll be back soon enough to tell you, just get some rest," Jason whispered as Hayley's eyes slowly closed and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

--------------------

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as she walked up the hall and could see Tommy at the far end. The final bell of the day had just rang and she was not sure if he had even heard her. "Tommy!"

"I don't think he heard you," Anthony whispered in her ear as Kim jumped as she looked back at him. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"Tommy Oliver!" Kim yelled as she stalked off down the hall after him as Anthony just laughed.

"Hey," Katie said as she walked up beside him and he smiled down at her. "Are you coming with us this afternoon?"

"Yeah, I couldn't get in touch with Hayley when I called," Anthony said as Katie gave him a confused look and they then turned to walk towards Tommy's room.

"Hey," Kim said as she walked into Tommy's room only a few steps behind him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Tommy asked as he gave her a hug and she then sat down on one of his desks.

"I have done all I can do at my place without some outside help, I needed to see a friendly face after today," Kim said as Tommy smiled over at her as he went to gather his school things.

"Have you heard from Jason today?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes. "What's going on?"

"Hayley is going to have to take it easy for the next couple of days until all of her test results come in, but right now it just looks like she gotten the bad end of a cold," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. That didn't explain why she was fainting, but it could be draining her more than they all knew it could.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense," Tommy said as Kim nodded. She thought it was odd too, but she also thought that the doctors knew what they were talking about.

"I know, but they let her come home and Jason is going to the cyberspace to open it up for the afternoon," Kim said as Anthony and Katie walked in.

"Hayley?" Katie asked as Kim nodded her head. "You know, maybe the two of them should just take a week off and have a wedding. Let's face it, things aren't going to get better until they are married."

"Yeah, but that can't be what is causing everything with Hayley, although the stress she's been under over the last few weeks might have something to do with it," Tommy said as Kim nodded in agreement. She could certainly imagine that Jason being gone on a mission had stressed her more than anything else could.

"Yeah, but he's back, shouldn't the stress be gone?" Katie asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the door.

"You have class," Tommy said pointing to Katie as he locked the door. "But can the two of you swing by Hayley's and just check on her. I'm sure that Jason would appreciate it."

"Yeah, we'll go. You just want me to meet you at home?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and the four of them then headed for the door. "So, how did you manage to keep your job?"

"I'll explain it to you when I get home from the dojo, we gotta go," Tommy said as Katie and he jogged ahead so that they would not be late to the dojo.

"I guess we're stuck together for the afternoon," Anthony said as Kim nodded her head.

"It's about time you really meet Hayley, since she is your long lost cousin," Kim said as the two of them hopped in her car. Kim could not think of a day that had gone so well in a very long time. She couldn't believe that they're first day back at school had gone so smoothly, but the day was not over yet and the former rangers still had a great deal ahead of them.

AN: Okay, I'm splitting the day into two parts, I don't want to make it too long, so the next chapter will be a continuation. I hope that you like this chapter and let me know what you think about it. Toodles!


	55. Life Goes On

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy) Viktor, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, Alegia, Maddie Viktor, Edward Viktor, Patsy Viktor, Teresa Scott, Kevin Scott, and Mrs. Henderson.

"Hayley...Hayley...knock, knock," Kim said as she rapped on the front door and heard someone shuffle towards the door.

"Hey," Hayley said weakly, as she opened the door and let them into the house. "Did Jason send you?"

"No, Tommy did," Kim said with a smile as she followed Hayley into the living room, as Anthony shut the door and locked it. "He seems to think that this is the best."

"It's not so great," Hayley said as she sat down on the couch and just shook her head. "Every test they have done is within normal range, even when Jason was gone. I don't know what could be causing this."

"You know, Billy might have the answer to all of this. You've been around rangers, it may have affected you, somehow. We've never had anyone be pregnant that was around rangers," Kim said as Hayley just shook her head, she did not want to see Billy right now. She was sure that Jason felt the same, especially after everything that she had just told him.

"I don't think we need to see Billy right now," Hayley said as Kim gave her an odd look as Anthony continued to look around the living room.

"All right," Kim said, carefully, as she looked over at Hayley. She didn't know why she wouldn't want Billy's help, but she was sure that she had a good reason.

"Can he stay with ya'll for the rest of the week? I really need to get everything straightened out with my body first," Hayley said as Kim nodded her head that she didn't mind. She actually was pretty sure that Katie would enjoy having Anthony around this week.

"It's going to take awhile to get used to being pregnant," Kim said as Hayley slowly shook her head.

"I never thought this would happen," Hayley whispered as Anthony looked between the two of them and then walked out of the room. He was not sure that he wanted to hear this conversation anymore, because he knew that one day Katie would be having it with someone and he didn't want to hear it anytime soon.

"You're an adult Hayley, you don't have to feel bad about having sex with a guy, you like or more specifically love," Kim said as Hayley looked over at her and just shook his head.

"I guess I still have the mindset of upsetting my parents. They took the news all right, but they weren't exactly happy with me," Hayley said as Kim nodded her head. She understood that; her parents would climb the wall if she told them that she was pregnant, especially with Tommy's child. She'd have a lot of explaining to do since they didn't know that they were back together.

"Hayley, my parents would go crazy. They always thought that Tommy and I had sex when we were in high school, but we never did. I wish that they knew about us again, but I haven't had a chance to even talk to them. Things have been way too busy lately," Kim said as Hayley nodded. She did not like seeing all of this action when she had just found out she was pregnant. She did not want to lose the father of her child.

"Yeah and it's not been with you working on your gym. That's why I'm so worried. All of you still have powers and what happens if they take Jason away from me?" Hayley choked out as she began to cry and Kim walked over so that she could sit down next to her.

"It's not going to happen; we won't let it happen," Kim said as Hayley leaned against her shoulder and she placed both her arms around her so that she could cry in earnest.

"How can you say that when you know there's a very good chance he will die?" Hayley asked as Kim rocked her back and forth, just trying to calm her. She knew that Jason wanted to keep her calm, but right now it seemed like Hayley just needed a really good cry to get a lot of the things that had happened out of her system.

----------------

"Oh," Katie said as Tommy kicked her in the stomach and she fell to the ground. Usually it didn't hurt her like this, but right now she could barely move, something was going on, but she just couldn't pin point what it might be. "What's wrong with me?"

"I don't know," Tommy said as he helped Katie stand up and she clutched her stomach. Angelina and Garrett couldn't help but give her an odd look as she tried to shake off everything that she was feeling. "Do you need to go home?"

"I should be fine," Katie said as she sat down on a bench and re-gathered her hair into a ponytail. She honestly just felt like she needed some rest, but she couldn't explain why she felt like this, she hadn't been at school enough to catch a virus. "I just don't feel so hot."

"Maybe you should talk to Conner," Tommy muttered as Katie walked back out on the mat to spar some more with Tommy. "No, Kate, go on and change. I think you need to head home."

"Tommy, I'm fine," Katie said as he pointed towards the locker room and she headed towards it with a dejected look on her face.

"You all right?" Angelina asked as she walked in behind her and Katie merely slipped on a light jacket over her shirt. She could see the look in her eyes and she knew that it was not a good look.

"I was fine until I got here, I've felt horrible since the second I stepped on the mat. It makes no sense, I've never felt like this before when I was healthy," Katie said as Tommy walked in to see what they were talking about.

"Kate, I know you don't want to go, but go to Hayley's and see what Anthony has to say about what's going on with you. I'm sure that he would know something," Tommy said as Katie placed her hands over her face and Tommy just looked at her. It suddenly hit him what might be happening to Katie and he did not like the implications. "I think I know what it might be now. I'm taking you to Hayley's."

"Tommy, I can drive, I'm fine," Katie said as he shook his head no. He had had this happen to himself before and what she was about to go through, was not going to be pretty.

"Just trust me, I've been through it before and you're not going to be able to drive in a little while," Tommy said as Katie merely nodded and then walked out to wait next to Tommy's jeep.

"She going to be all right?" Garrett asked, as the rest of the class had left only a few seconds after Tommy dismissed them.

"Yeah, if I can get her home," Tommy said as Katie slumped down further against his jeep. "Come on, I need to get her home."

"What are you doing here?" Katie asked as Conner walked up to her and squatted down in front of her.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Conner whispered as Katie nodded her head yes as she sank even lower. Tommy then walked out and looked at the two of them.

"Yeah, but it's not just that," Katie said as Tommy walked up to the two of them and Conner looked up at him.

"We're going to Hayley's, go on and get in the car," Tommy said as Katie stumbled into the car and rolled into the back seat. She was feeling absolutely horrible right now.

"What's happening?" Katie asked as Tommy pulled out of his parking space and headed towards Hayley's home.

"You're losing your powers and quite rapidly from what I can tell," Tommy said as Katie's eyes rolled back in her head and she went into a dead faint.

"Kate...Kate...come on," Conner said as he gently shook her and Tommy glanced back at her.

"She'll be all right Conner. I think we just need to get her to Anthony," Tommy said as Conner glared over at him and he looked away. "I know that that is still a sore subject, but there is nothing else we can do. He's the only one that can help her now."

"I hope that you're right," Conner said as Tommy floored the accelerator and Conner gave him a confused look. If Katie was perfectly fine, why was Tommy speeding through town like this?

------------

"What are you doing here?" Kim asked as she opened the door to reveal Tommy and Conner, who were holding Katie up. "What happened?"

"She's losing her powers," Tommy said as he and Conner walked in and placed Katie on a couch. Anthony had peeked into the room to see what was going on and now had an extremely worried look on his face. He knew that this was not good and he also knew that Conner was not going to be happy when he tried to help.

"I thought that we all were going to lose them at the same time," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and then tried to call his morpher. It didn't come and Kim then knew that they had lost their powers as well, it just hadn't had the same affect on them.

"Why is it only affecting us?" Conner asked as he gripped his stomach and doubled over as he fell to his knees.

"Because you are fighting against the prophecy," Anthony said as he sat down and placed Katie's head on his lap. "It'll get better soon."

"How can it get better soon when you are the one that caused it?" Conner asked as Anthony looked over at him and just shook his head.

"You think that I'll let her stay like this? That I'll let the powers keep doing this to her?" Anthony asked as the others looked at him, wondering what he was thinking about doing. "I can take it all away."

"How?" Tommy asked as Anthony placed both of his hands on her chest and drew out the powers, which made the both of them glow pink.

"I feel better," Conner said as he sat back against the couch. "Does this mean my powers are gone?"

"Yeah, I guess one of you just needed to have them taken away," Tommy said as Anthony gently shook Katie's shoulder and then shook his head.

"Then why isn't she waking up?" Anthony asked as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance. "What do you know that I don't?"

"She'll probably stay like that for a little while. We've both had it happen before and it's normal," Kim said as Jason barged into the house and looked around at the congregation of rangers.

"What the hell is going on?" Jason asked as he looked around the living room. Hayley was supposed to be resting and now it seemed that all the rangers just wanted to congregate here. "She's supposed to be resting, not entertaining every ranger known to man."

"We've lost our powers," Tommy said as Jason's eyes widened and he quickly tried to get his morpher, but couldn't. "And she's passed out, so I think we need to wait before we move her."

"When did this happen?" Jason asked as he sat down on a couch and looked around the room. He was sure that he would have noticed when he lost his powers, but he hadn't even flinched this time.

"I'm not sure, some time today I guess," Tommy said as Katie slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Anthony.

"I don't feel so good," Katie murmured as she propped herself up against Anthony's side.

"It's your first time losing your powers, you're not going to feel good," Kim said as Katie looked at her in wide-eyed shock. They had lost their powers? They weren't rangers any longer? "It'll get better soon."

"Does that mean that it's really over, that we're really done," Katie said as Tommy shook his head no. "Why not?"

"Life goes on," Tommy said with a smile as Katie smiled up at Anthony and he laughed. To think that they could really accept all of this, that their lives would really be fine made it all better for them. They could honestly say that no matter what, life goes on.


	56. Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters/places of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony (also known as Tony/Andy) Viktor, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, Dr. Vestwick, Leza, Phillip, gogmors, anondrones, Alegia, Maddie Viktor, Edward Viktor, Patsy Viktor, Teresa Scott, Kevin Scott, and Mrs. Henderson.

**Epilogue **

_Katie's POV _

Being a ranger changed my life forever and I knew that it would, but that was over five years ago now. I look back on that time and it honestly doesn't seem like it should have even happened, I was married before I was out of high school, I was in love before I left a foreign planet, and I was married after only knowing someone a few days. I can honestly say that I'm happy with him though, but a lot more has gone on than the two of us becoming a couple on Earth and I think that is what needs to be known.

Firstly, Tommy and Kimberly have been married for three years as of a month ago and they are blissfully happy, with their first child due in a couple of months. It's been so funny to watch Kim's stomach swell and for her to complain about being fat, when all Tommy does is let his hand rest on her belly and feel the baby kick. It's kinda funny to think that I've been married longer, but I haven't had a child, although I think Tommy would have had a shit fit if Andy and I had even tried in high school. It was really weird to be married back then and not be able to even act like a couple.

Also, Jason and Hayley got married only a couple of months after my ranger tenure ended. It was weird to know that they were going to have a baby and that they were getting married. Their child is now four years old and he is the cutest thing to watch. He is constantly playing around in Tommy's dojo and it is unbelievable to see him running around. Her parents came around to the fact that she was going to have a baby and they love their grandchild, even though he was not conceived the way they would have liked it to happen.

But I want to take you back to one day, a day that I haven't thought about in a long time. None of the rangers really thought it was that special until much later, when we were able to think back on everything that had happened to us.

_Flashback _

"Where are we going?" Hayley asked as Jason silently loaded up the car and Hayley watched. Jason would not let her touch any of the stuff since she had had her spells early on in her pregnancy, but she was much better now.

"Tommy wanted to take a trip down to Angel Grove and I thought that you'd enjoy going there as well," Jason said as Hayley merely nodded that it was a good idea. She hadn't been to Angel Grove in months and it seemed like a good idea to go back.

"Are we staying anywhere in particular?" Hayley asked as Jason nodded his head yes, which caused Hayley to give him an odd look. She had been under the impression that they were not going to know where they were staying until they got there. "Where?"

"The Command Center. Anthony and Katie have some things that they have to take care of, her powers are still messing with her some," Jason said as Hayley merely nodded, wondering where in the world she would sleep, since she didn't remember any comfortable beds in the Command Center.

"Where will we sleep?" Hayley asked as Jason smiled over at her.

"We have beds there, we just never used them because of all the crap that we had to do in the main room," Jason said as Hayley merely nodded. She was now sixth months pregnant and all she honestly wanted to do was sleep, which was something that Jason let her do a good deal of when they had free time. "If you want to stay here, you can."

"No, I'd rather go with you. It's not going to be too stressful tonight, is it?" Hayley asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders. He honestly didn't know how stressful it was going to be, but he was sure that if it became too much for her to handle that he would be able to find a place for her to go and have some peace.

"Tommy is not too worried about it, so neither am I," Jason said as Hayley nodded. She knew what Anthony and Katie had been suffering through and she knew exactly how important it was to get the two of them back to normal as quickly as possible.

-------------

"Hey guys," Kim said as Hayley and Jason walked into the Command Center, looking slightly befuddled. "How you doing?"

"Pretty good, so what do we have to do?" Jason asked as he dropped their bags and walked over to where Kim and Tommy were standing.

"Well, Katie and Anthony are in the back with Zordon, getting some sort of treatment that will supposedly cure them of all their troubles. Who knows what it is going to take out of them, though. The others are around here somewhere," Kim said as she scanned the area, but couldn't find anyone there. "I'm sure they'll show up eventually, they're probably checking out the new rooms that Zordon made appear for us. He seems to think that we are going to be coming here a lot more and he's right. Tommy was able to get a teaching job in Angel Grove, so guess where we're moving," Kim said as Jason's eyes widened in shock. He had thought it was going to take Tommy forever to get back to Angel Grove.

"How are they taking that?" Hayley asked, as Anthony had not told her anything about it.

"They don't know yet, Tommy doesn't want to tell them until he has gotten everything set up. You know that Katie is probably going to have a tough time dealing with Angel Grove after everything that has happened there, but Tommy wants to go home and this is home to him," Kim said as they nodded. They both knew that Tommy had been itching to get back and now he was able to get there, even if it was at a great price.

"So, you're going with him?" Jason asked as Kim nodded her head yes. The fact was that she had already put her gymnastics center up for sale and the both of them were looking for a place to open a dojo/gymnastic center. They knew that they needed to work together in order to get everything done, especially since they were sure about each other.

"I'm glad to hear that," Hayley said as Kim started walking towards the back of the Command Center. "Tommy wouldn't be able to take being away from you."

"I know," Kim said as Tommy walked back in to see them and he wrapped Hayley up in a hug.

"Hey," Tommy said as Hayley laughed at him. She could not imagine what would put Tommy in this good of a mood.

"Wow, you're in a good mood," Hayley said as Tommy looked down at her with a smile on his face.

"I know, but you can't blame me," Tommy said as Hayley smiled in agreement. Tommy deserved to be happy with the news that they had gotten yesterday. "I still have to break the news to Katie though."

"That's going to be the tough part," Hayley said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. "How are they doing?"

"Katie still feels like shit and Anthony is starting to suffer now. The link that they have is extremely strong, but the two of them are having a hard time with the powers leaving their body. Katie's are going to have to be ripped from her and Anthony can still have them, but he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to have a chance that he will be a ranger again," Tommy said as Hayley gave him a sympathetic look. Anthony did not want to have any part of it now that he had been brought to earth. He was tired of defending the world and saving people, he just wanted to be normal.

"I didn't want to hear that. I thought that they would be all right, it was just going to be some easy tests," Kim said as Tommy shook his head no.

"Zordon decided that he would treat them tonight. He had to treat them tonight or they would get worse, especially Katie," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. She honestly felt sorry for them and didn't know how they were going to react to it. The treatments that she had had with her powers had been horrible and she knew that these were not going to be a cake walk, by any means.

"Hey guys," Katie said, weakly, as she looked up at her fellow rangers and they gave her a smile.

"How you holding up?" Kim asked as Katie just shook her head. She honestly felt horrible, but she didn't think that she needed to say that to them. They had been through worse than this and she was sure that they didn't want to hear her complaining.

"Be honest, Kate," Anthony said as she leaned over against him and closed her eyes. She had never felt like this before and she was sure that she was going to be sick, very soon.

"Not good," Katie said as Kim and Tommy gave her sympathetic looks. They had all been through the power withdrawals, but they knew that this was really rough on her. She had never felt anything like this before and she was still stumbling from when she had lost her powers the first time, now she had to have them removed.

"You know that we've all been through this before," Jason said as Kim and Tommy nodded their heads. They had both experienced fully losing their powers and they hated knowing what it did to a ranger and to have to sit back and watch it made them feel so much worse. "It's never any fun."

"You're not kidding about that one," Katie said as Anthony's hand roamed on her side, hoping that it would comfort her some. He had barely realized that he shouldn't leave her side unless something bad happened and even then, he probably shouldn't leave. He had never seen her when she was this weak and thoroughly drained before and although it was hurting him to lose his powers, it was so much worse on her.

"You should be calming down soon Katie, most of your powers have been drained from your body," Zordon said as Katie managed to nod as she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on something other than the way her body felt.

"Are there any other affects besides feeling like crap?" Katie asked as Zordon looked over at Kim and Tommy, knowing that they could explain it to her much better than he could.

"Not that you'll feel right away," Kim said as Katie looked over at her, shocked that there was more that she might have to contend with in the near future. "It's mostly just being confused as to what you can do when you no longer have powers."

"That's nice," Katie said as she quickly grabbed a trash can and threw up. "You know I don't think this is fair."

"We've been through it way too many times to count, so don't you dare talk to us about fairness," Tommy said as Katie gave him her best sad puppy dog look and Tommy looked away. He hated when she did that to him, because he could not refuse her, even when he tried.

"Kate," Anthony said as he looked away too, he couldn't stand to see her look that sad.

"All right," Katie said as she closed her eyes and actually drifted off to sleep. The draining of her powers had left her exhausted and they all knew that she was the only one that could deal with it this well, even Tommy had had trouble the first time he had lost his powers.

"She has dealt with all of this surprisingly well, but none of you will have to worry about being rangers ever again. You have truly been retired," Zordon said as Tommy, Kim, and Jason gave him a questioning look. They had thought that they were truly retired the last time that they had had their power taken away from them. "I mean it this time; there will not be anymore ranger work, for any of you."

"Including me?" Anthony asked as Zordon looked over at him and shook his head no. There was still more left for Anthony, more than he would ever understand.

"You will never wear the uniform of a ranger again, but you will be a liaison between Earth and Eltar. There is always a chance that you may have to go back and help them with some situation, until your oldest child is of age. When they are, then we'll discuss how they will go back to Eltar and see the planet, they may even decide to protect it, but you and Katie, have to be willing to let that happen. It is for the sake of all rangers," Zordon said as Anthony nodded. He didn't like the way that it sounded, but he knew that he wouldn't have to tell Katie anytime soon, since they weren't planning on having kids.

"What about you, Zordon?" Tommy asked, as they were not sure what their mentor had left to do here, as he had mentored them as rangers over a decade before and any new rangers probably would not fall under his control.

"I'll be here, waiting for the day when I have to call upon five more young teenagers with attitude to defend the earth," Zordon said as they just shook their heads. "Feel free to move to the back rooms now, the two of you are free of your powers."

"Okay," Anthony said as he picked Katie up and headed towards the back room, so that he could put her down in a bed and actually let her sleep.

"You know if they two of you weren't suffering so much, this would actually be fun," Tommy said as Anthony gave him a confused look. "We never just hung out at the Command Center, we always had something we had to do."

"I lived at the Command Center, so I don't want to hang out at one," Anthony said as Tommy nodded. Things were certainly different on Eltar than they were on Earth, but they had known that from the moment that they met Zordon.

"It was our one place that we could show that we were rangers and what we felt. It was more like home here than our own homes," Tommy muttered as he watched Anthony place Katie on a bed and then crawl in next to her. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, Tommy knew that the two of them were never going to be broken apart. They meant far too much to each other.

"They're much better off than all of us," Kim said as she looked around at her fellow rangers. Yes, Katie, Anthony, and Conner had been members of an almost legendary group of rangers, but they were not the legends themselves. They did not have the mystique that the rest of them had to uphold.

"Yeah, they are," Tommy said as he smiled over at Kimberly. "They'll never have to deal with most of the hardships that we had."

"No one will have to deal with the hardships that they two of you had. Most of them learned their lesson when they heard your story," Jason said with a laugh as they just shook their heads. They hated to admit that their friends were right, but they always seemed to be right about all of this.

"Yeah, but life goes on, even when things go wrong," Tommy said as Kim nodded. They had certainly learned that the hard way.

"Is that how you are going to explain the move to her?" Jason asked as Tommy just shook his head. He had no clue how he was going to tell Katie, but he knew that he had to tell her soon. She didn't need to find out when she saw the 'For Sale' sign on the dojo.

"I wish that was it, but it's not that easy. She's already learned that life goes on; she's had to live that ever since her parents died," Tommy said as Kim let out a contented sigh. "What's that for?"

"You never know exactly how right you are Tommy. Life will go on for all of us, even when we are completely done being rangers. We'll find something else that we have the same drive for. We'll find something else that will work better for us and our lives will continue. I just wish we would have learned this lesson when we were in high school," Kim said, as they all knew that it would have made things so much easier on them.

"That's why we had to be rangers again, we had to learn to appreciate our lives," Jason said as Hayley let out a wide yawn and he ushered her over to a bed, knowing that they were going to have to get to sleep soon.

"It shouldn't have taken all of this to appreciate it," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. It had taken a lot for the two of them to truly appreciate each other, so he couldn't really agree with her there.

"It did, because neither of us learned our lesson. Life goes on, but it doesn't go on without you," Tommy muttered as he gave Kim a kiss. Of all the things that they could say to each other, this was the most true. They couldn't go on in their lives without each other.

_End of Flashback _

That night meant a lot to all of us, although we didn't really understand it until later. It was our first step in making ourselves go back to a normal life, a life without any monsters or crazy villains coming after us. It took us all awhile to understand what Jason really meant that night, but now we do understand it.

None of us truly appreciated the life that we had, even though we had had some problems. It was not until after being rangers that we realized that no matter what happened to us, life was going to go on, with or without us there. It was up to us, as to what would happen with our lives and I don't really know about the others, but I can say this for myself, my life has turned out good. And as Tommy tried to drill home to all of us, life goes on, even when things are at their worse, it still goes on and we just have to go with it.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this story and you'll be seeing a lot more from me in the future. Thank you so much for your support and I hope to continue my stories as well as I can.


End file.
